These 10 back-to-school hacks are to help Moms survive the back-to-school whirlwind that is taking place in many of our homes right now! You will find a few specifically for Moms of teens, as that is the season I am in right now. If you don’t have teens, you will before you know it–don’t blink!
Ice Cold Water Bottles
My girls love taking water bottles to school and like them ice-cold. To keep them cold until lunchtime, fill half way with water and place the water bottle on its side in the freezer over-night, then fill the rest with tap water in the morning.
Snapshot School Schedule & Locker Combo
Learning a new schedule can be easy if you keep it front and center on the first day. Have your teens take a snapshot of it and use it as their phone or screen saver. Have them take one of their locker combination, too.
Use Google In A Unique Way
Google is amazing, but to research information for school essays, try using scholar.google.com for more relevant information. When your kids are finished with an essay, have them copy and paste it into Google Translate, and listen to it. This is an easy way to find mistakes.
Refrigerator Chia Oats To-Go Breakfast
If you have not ever had chia oats, back-to-school is the perfect time to try them. They are filling, healthy–and if made in a mason jar–portable!
Keep School ID Or Library Books In Back Pack
Encourage your high schoolers to put their student ID right into a side pocket of their backpack when that take it off. It is usually in the care when they discover they forgot it, and it will be right there in their backpack, ready to put on. The same trick will work for those library books. If they are always stored in the back pack after reading, they will always be ready to be returned!
Protein After School Snack
Hard boiled eggs are a great way to get some protein into your kids as part of their after-school snack. They would also make a great addition to an easy breakfast. Have you ever tried to bake your hard-boiled eggs? I have not but I keep seeing that it is a thing!
Freeze a Wet Sponge
Sponges are an inexpensive way to keep those lunch boxes nice and cool. Icepacks can produce quite a bit of condensation, which can leave things soggy. Instead, freeze a wet sponge. Because the sponge absorbs liquids, it won’t leak while in the lunch box.
The Good Sandwich Guide
Tired of overlapping lunch meats with edges hanging off the sides of the bread? Use this trick to reduce overlapping and allow for a good bite even in the corners! Cut 2 slices of circular lunch meat and cheese and cheese in half. Lay on top of a piece of bread with rounded side facing in, so the straight edges fill the bread. Top with another piece of bread and slice down the center. I personally don’t buy circular lunch meat, as most of those have nitrates in them, but we do buy circular cheese, so I like this hack!
Pomodoro Method For Studying
Help your older kids take the most of those studying sessions. Encourage them to follow this guide.
~25 minutes hard work
~5 minute break
~Every 3rd break = 15 minutes long
Use PayPal App
If you need to pay a tutor on the spot, want to school supply shop while laying in bed, and donate to your favorite charities with a click, you must use PayPal.
We use the PayPal app all the time, and I truly don’t know what I’d do without the convenience it brings! We use it to pay our tutor, with just a push of a button I can hear her phone ding right when I send it, which makes us both smile, knowing she is getting her payment before she even leaves our home.
PayPal One Touch:
When Back-to-School shopping on an app or website that allows you to pay with PayPal, there is no need to type in credit card information or re-enter usernames an passwords. Personally, the fewer passwords I need the better life is, and I am always relieved when I see a website allows you to pay with PayPal, which I find on many sites! You can log in and then are given the choice to opt-in to “stay logged in” for the same device and browser combo, across eligible PayPal merchants. Easy shopping, paid with a click, while lying in my bed? Yes, I will take that.
Charitable Giving
I just learned that with the same easy click of a button, PayPal helps support our favorite causes with the in-app donation feature called the PayPal Giving Fund. 100% of the proceeds go to selected partnering charity organizations, such as Let Girls Learn, YMCA, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. My Todd works for a non-profit charitable organization, so I know how amazing this feature is both for the charity and for the giver.
You can donate to your favorite charities, whether responding on the spot to a natural disaster or simply supporting a local cause, in-app donations is a quick and secure way to discover and donate to certified charities around the world with just a click using PayPal.
During back-to-school season, and donations made through the Pay Pal Giving Fund will receive a 1% match from PayPal! Pay Pal is partnering with select charities dedicated to providing access to education and extracurricular enrichment to children from August 12-August 31, 2016. Learn more about the PayPal Giving Fund & how to donate by going to paypal.com/givenow
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Are YOUR kids back-to-school yet? Do you have teens?
Do you shop for school supplies online? Are you familiar with the PayPal App?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.