Ok, I need to show y’all something…..but NO JUDGEMENT.  Here we go……..

For the record, those notebooks were neatly stacked....and then I took a sharp turn. Oopsie.

Yeah, that’s the back of my car…loaded up with school supplies.  No, I’m not secretly Michelle Duggar and buying for 19 of my own children.  I’m a teacher. The way my school works is that the teachers purchase the supplies for all 20-something students and then we get reimbursed for it.  We like this method because we get what we like and I like all the kids to be “matchy-matchy,” meaning, everyone has a red folder, a certain brand of beloved Crayons (cause those other ones are garbage) and that helps to keep me calm.  So, because we start school in early August (waaaahhh!) I make the trek to the local discount store as soon as the July 4th decorations are down because that means the school supplies are out…..staring me down with the evil eye and reminding me the days of sleeping in are numbered.

I also let my kids come with me to pick up any of their necessary school supplies, which isn’t much because they attend school where I teach, so their teachers are running around like me with 90 speckled notebooks in their shopping carts getting weird looks from other shoppers.  But, each of them can still choose a special pack of pencils or “cool” pencil pouch to express a little bit of independence.   If you do the same, the kind people at Carolina Pad Store are offering our readers a 25% discount on your entire online order through September 15, 2011 (valid for United States shipping address only)!  Simply enter code notsoblogBTS_2011 at check out!

With my own two kids, ages 9 and 6, this means reality is setting in.  They’ve been living the high life of staying up late, sleeping way past 9:00 am, and pretty much doing whatever we feel like doing, when we feel like doing it.  As a result, I start getting panicky about getting them back into a routine.  My solution this summer has worked well so far.  I saved all the necessary appointments until the end of the summer and scheduled them early in the day.  So, last week we woke up early for a dentist appointment.  The next day? Eye doctor.  Sure, it’s no fun, but it has helped us get used to the routine of setting the dreaded alarm again and how to manage time efficiently in the morning to get fed, dressed, and out the door on time.  Because I am home for the summer, the kids typically don’t do a lot of camps, but this summer I purposefully signed my son ( the household night owl) up for soccer camp this week so he would be up early, active all day, and good and tired for a “normal” bedtime.  The trick once camp is over will be sticking to the newly re-set schedule.  I’m crossing my fingers it works!

What’s your secret?  When it’s time to start back, how do you get back on track? The days are numbered!  Good luck with your Back to School routines!

This post is the opinion of Jennifer of the Experimental Mommy.  While a sample product was received to facilitate this review, all opinions remain 100% honest.