Make School Mornings Stress Free

This post was sponsored by Del Monte as part of an Influencer Activation and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Josh is starting high school in September. I’m kind of in disbelief just typing that sentence since his first day of kindergarten seems like just yesterday. Along with new classes, new activities and new friends comes one change I am really dreading: a new start time. Our local high school starts at 7:20am which means the bus will be coming by sometime before 7 am. Ugh! (The irony of the fact that elementary school started at 8:45 yet Josh bounded out of bed at 6 am back then but sleeps until noon now if we let him is not lost on me.)

An earlier school day means we need to really streamline the morning routine. I’m already planning on how exactly we are going to do this as I know it will reduce a LOT of stress, both Josh’s and mine! I’m happy to share with you some of the things we will be putting into place to ensure that our mornings run smoothly once school starts up again.

First, we are moving Josh’s alarm clock across the room. As I mentioned before, elementary school student Josh used to bound out of bed at 6 am sharp, no matter what. I used to hate this on days off! These days, teen Josh could hit snooze dozens of times before finally getting up. By moving his alarm clock across the room, he has to at least get out of bed before hitting snooze which reduces the chance that he will do it in a semi-conscious state and oversleep.

Next, we are making sure bags are packed the night before. Between needing to remember his Chromebook and the music for band plus all of his assignments, there is too much to pack to be leaving it to the rushed morning chaos. We will be strongly encouraging Josh to make sure his bag is completely packed before bed.

We will be making lunch packing as easy as possible. Josh likes to bring his own lunch rather than purchase it from the cafeteria. Because he prefers a sandwich, he likes to make it in the morning rather than the night before. (I can’t blame him for this – soggy sandwiches are gross!) What we are doing is setting aside a shelf in the pantry for all of the extras that go in his lunch along with the sandwich. That way, once he makes the sandwich, he can just grab all of the other items quickly from one place.

One of the fun items he will be including this year is Bubble Fruit from Del Monte. Del Monte Bubble Fruit is kind of like a cross between a fruit cup and bubble tea. Each bubble delivers a fun burst of flavor and the individual packaging makes them perfect as a fun addition to any lunch box or after school snack. Josh picked Pear Berry Pomegranate and Peach Strawberry Lemonade from our local Walmart (they are exclusive to Walmart!) and loved them both.

 

 

Since you are going to be at Walmart already picking up all the supplies for school, why not enter the Back to School Sweepstakes* running from July 19th– September 15th, 2019 for a chance to win a $50,000 scholarship and other great prizes? There are so many products that are participating in the sweepstakes:

• Del Monte Bubble Fruit, 4 oz cups
• Old Spice Volcano with Charcoal Men’s Shampoo, 25.3 fl oz
• Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Moist Deep Conditioner, 8 fl oz
• Vitafusion Women’s Multivitamins, 150 ct
• Vitafusion Men’s Multivitamins, 150 ct
• Vitafusion Lil’Critters Gummy Vites Children’s Vitamins, 190 ct

 

• Stretch Island Fruit Leathers, 8 – 0.5 oz countNo purchase necessary to enter or win. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Must be at least 18+ and a legal resident of the 50 U.S./D.C. Sweepstakes begins on 7/19/19 at 12:00:01 a.m. EDT and ends on 9/15/19 at 11:59:59 p.m. Official rules at backtoschoolatwalmart.com. SPONSOR: FUEL Partnerships, Inc., 6111 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite #265, Boca Raton, FL 33487