Lunch Notes Are A Kid's Best Friend

I just finished reading the book In-Between by Jennie B. Jones. In the book, the main character is a teenage girl who is a foster child. She goes to live with her new foster family and on the first day of school she sits in a bathroom stall to eat the packed lunch her foster mother has prepared for her.

Inside that lunch, is a little note that tells her to have a great day.

Life as a mom can get really hetic, especially in the morning. Especially if you have more than one kiddo to get ready for the day in addition to packing lunches, finding backpacks, and sometimes searching for a misplaced shoe.

I'm so guilty of this. Sometimes, as I'm dropping kids off to school I forget to say "Have a great day, or even I love you."

It's hard and it's so simple.
But it means so much.

Years ago, our pastor's wife told me how she would write notes on napkins in her child's lunch. I did the same. My kids complained, but then if I forgot they'd come home from school and let me know they didn't get their note. Even though they didn't want to admit it, they look forward to it. It's still staying connected and giving your child some extra encouragement that they may need to carry on the rest of the day.

I think we all could use some of that. Not just in school, but in the work day as well.

We've all been there haven't we? There are just those days that drag or something happens that you can't wait for the day to end or wonder if anything worse could happen before the clock hits the appointed time to go home.

A few little words of encouragement can go a long ways to make it through the afternoon.

What better way to slip some hope into someone's day than a little note card with a handwritten "Have a great rest of the day." or "Looking forward to seeing you when you get home." to boost their moral.

These bright and cheery little note cards are available in my etsy shop now.  You can check out all the designs here, and more will continued to come.

They're 3 x 3 folded, and are the perfect size for slipping into a lunch. They're uplifting designs make them a keeper to hold onto throughout the day on a desk or in a locker.

What notes of encouragement do you tend to write to your loved ones to let them know your thinking of them throughout the day?

Surviving Middle School Melodies

Hear it? It's the sound of middle schoolers heading off to school. Ahhh, the bliss of absent tweens.

But happens to our children when they go from elementary school to no man's land - middle school. It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. They're too old for elementary school and too young for high school, essentially we've tossed them into no man's land. For no man (or young woman) knows exactly what to do with themselves at this stage of life.

Tween are old enough that they begin to set new social standard for themselves. They've been developing a personality for the past ten to twelve years. They like they're mind sets have matured.

It's an exciting time, their not babies anymore. Bye bye Elementary school!

Your middle schooler has already developed their own set of expectations for these next few years of middle school. Sit down and talk to them. It's not the same as when you were in school, I'm sure. Yet, you want to make sure your middle schooler is walking into class the first day with the right kind of attitude. That, and you don't want your child raising the bar that might come crashing down on them.

Things are going to change.  They'll have more responsibilities. Not all their friends are going to be their friends again. Interest will change.

About.com has good article, "Preparing for Middle School" on tips and techniques to balance school and home.

In order to prepare your middle schooler to survive these years of transition, you can add these to this year's shopping list.

1. A Student Planner. Unlike Elementary School, middle schoolers are introduced to a new scheduled class and homework routines. Help them keep their days and assignments organized. Less confusion on their part is less frustration on yours.

2. A sturdy Backpack or Messenger Bag. School textbooks are no longer kept in a desk. Now, your middle schooler must store books in lockers and carry them in their backpacks. Look at size, style, and durability. A middle schooler's backpack is like their best friend --they'll hang out with it all year long.

3. Wrist Watch. You're middle schooler has been learning to tell time since the first grade. Now, when you tell them to be home by 6pm for dinner, they've got no excuses. Just like when they've got to run to the bus stop and be there on time. Tweens are old enough now for time management both in the home and at school.

4. Alarm Clock. Time to get up! If their old enough to have an opinion, they're old enough to set the alarm and abide the beeping in the morning. Staying up late now holds a new tune with this helpful gadget.

5. Allowance. You may not have been doing this back in elementary school.Now that your child has entered into middle school, consider setting them up on an allowance. This isn't anything that should be based on grades or chores, those are both expected without receiving payment. But now that your child is growing more independent, they too need a source of income. Give them a set amount every week or two weeks. This may or may not include their lunch money. Help your child learn to manage money, and understand the concept of earning or saving for the thing they want and expect you to provide for them beyond the norm.

As always, don't forget the pens, pencils, calculator, and notebooks while you're out shopping for those cool new school clothes and rad shoes this school year!

Better Days Than These Ahead...

A few days ago, nothing seemed to be going right.

The household was falling apart - everyone was sick, the laundry piled to the ceiling, dishes over flowing the sink, and a husband who went to work without lunch.

Whatever task was written down for the day, went uncompleted. Those attempted tasks failed, and the only thing I could look forward to was a babysitter arriving in the evening to allow my escape of it all.

Only, the babysitter didn't show, and the hope that had carried me through the day dissipated like a knife slicing through butter. All around me was a household in chaos, and I began to cry.

Eventually, the babysitter came to rescue me twenty minutes before the event I had scheduled to go to with my local MOPS group. Every year, it has become a tradition to attend the Taste of Home Show at the theater in town.

After playing phone tag with a few friends, rushing to get there, I found my seat. As I watched the lady on stage begin to prepare foods, my eyes drifted, and I fell asleep. Somewhere around the time of chocolate fondue I realized what had happened, and felt embarrassed.

I'd been up since 5am, sick kids, sick self, running errands, doing the best I could to tend to the house, and finally when I made it through the day and began to unwind, I relaxed and took the rest I needed.

Mother's with young children can relate, I'm sure. Those sitting around me, sat and laughed and enjoyed the show, no one noticed I wasn't awake. Many of them, friends, could relate afterwards when I admitted my fault.

My mother said there would be days like these, and many more to come, but the one thing that gets me through the days ahead, better days, is no matter how tired, frustrated, or unproductive my days may be I can always cross one thing off my to-do-list for the day, even if I have to write it in first then cross it off. Like taking a nap. :)

So when the days seem endless, and the household seems like it's falling apart, tuck hope in your pocket that there are better days than these ahead.

Sock Goblin

Around Halloween it comes as no surprise to see ghost, ghouls, and goblins out and about.

Yesterday, I participated in a fun filled morning with my children at preschool. One of the games we played was "Guess the Goblin". A child would hide under a black sheet and another child would go out of the room, then come back to guess which child was the goblin hiding under the sheet. This went on for a good hour, filled with laughs and guesses, until all the children had taken a turn.

Coming home, my little goblins and I went about doing our afternoon chore - the laundry. Sometime in the midst of when my children's socks were on their feet to the time they went through the laundry, a few were missing.

So, we blamed it on the Sock Goblin.

Who knows, maybe you have a Sock Goblin in your house too. How else can we explain why at the end of doing the household laundry that socks are left without matches? My preschooler has decided that the Sock Goblin eats socks, while my other children feel the Goblin simply wears the socks and we get missing socks when the Goblin needs a new outfit.

Whatever the explanation, all I know is I've got a growing accumulations of mismatched socks. So, why doesn't the Sock Goblin take them instead of those which already have a mate?

Good question. One I'm sure my children would be happy to elaborate on during dinner when we often have discussion such as this. I'm sure, they will have a good explaination for it when I ask them tonight.

What kind of Goblins do you have in your house this Halloween?