Time seems to be one thing that’s in permanent short supply in our house, especially when we’re trying to get back into the swing of things after the school holidays.
You’ll be happy to hear I’ve managed to survive the break without going batsh*t mental or losing the back to school plot – although to be fair it was touch and go at times – and we’re now getting to grips with a new school year.
With BB now in year two I’m starting to feel like I know what I’m doing on the back to school front, so for anyone struggling I thought now is a good time to share my top time-saving back to school hacks.
My top time-saving back to school hacks
1. Be prepared. I know it’s an obvious one but making lunches, packing bags and laying everything out the night before really does save time when you’re bleary eyed in the morning. Plus, when they’re old enough, everything is there for them to start getting ready by themselves.
2. Invest in stick-on name labels. If you’ve got umpteen items of clothing and school paraphernalia that need labelling forget sewing – life is too short. Go for stick-on versions instead. This year we’re using Labels 4 Kids who do personalised stick-on labels for everything from clothes to book bags.
School label packs (£24.99) contain everything you need from stickers for fabric to tags for their ruck sack and you can even personalise them with colours and animals. It’ll get the job done in a jiffy and even better they’ve given me (or rather you) a 10% off discount code! Just enter the code BLOG at the checkout!
3. Don’t bother cooking. Making a healthy and nutritious meal from scratch every night is all very well in theory, but when you’re juggling family life with work and school the reality is somewhat different. If you can’t face cooking, if you didn’t quite get around to the batch cooking you said you were going to do, or if you’ve resorted to eggy bread one too many times then try Little Dish’s new store cupboard range (seen here alongside some gorgeous plates by Enamel Factory!)
The classics range is a collection of kitchen cupboard essentials including baked beans and spaghetti hoops and sauces including a korma cooking sauce without the sugar and salt found in standard supermarket versions. All you need to do is open the packet, heat it up and it’s ready to eat in minutes. Perfect!
4. Don’t bother ironing. I’ve said it before (see last year’s speedy school night hacks) and I’ll say it again: there is absolutely no point ironing. The car seatbelt ruins it all before they even make it to the school gate anyway, and the ‘crease free’ uniform you get does work provided you don’t overfill the washing machine.
5. Get them in and out of the bath in the fastest time possible. I can’t tell you how many hours I must have spent trying to get knots out of BB’s hair at bath time. My latest find is celebrity hairdresser Daniel Galvin Jr’s new range of kids’ hair care products called Dubble Trubble, which includes a cool cucumber detangling spray (£3). We were kindly sent a bottle to try out and coupled with our thick & curly Tangle Teezer it’s just the job. I just spray it onto BB’s hair in the bath, comb through and bingo!
Is it back to school in your house this week? Do you have any time-saving hacks? I’d love to hear what they are!
We were very kindly sent the Labels 4 Kids name labels, Little Dish meals and Daniel Galvin Jr detangling spray free of charge for the purpose of review. As always all opinions are my own and I would never recommend a product or service I don’t truly believe in.
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We’ve yet to encounter the back to school episode but I think it’s great to read from those in the know. Thanks for the heads up on what to do. #ablogginggoodtime