It’s that time of year when the kids are heading back to school and schedules are changing once again. I’ve heard it called the blues but I feel like there are many colors that could describe the feelings in our home since my daughter is super excited to get back to school! We thought we’d share our reactions to various thoughts and give you a little insight to our Back to School preparation process today.
Wait – did I just tell you that my daughter can’t wait to go back to school?
Yes, you heard that correctly! She can’t wait to head back to school. She loves her school’s principal, its teachers, and all of the electives she gets to participate in, as well as the learning from her regular courses!
You see, my daughter loves to learn! How can I call this blue?! Isn’t that more like pink or magenta, some fun fiery color of excitement?
While we were at lunch today, we talked about some of the things that will change over the next few weeks. One of them is that Thieves use will increase in our home due to its great smell and ability to promote wellness. Now that she will be around others again all day, Monday through Friday, it’s important we do all we can to ensure she is increasing wellness and decreasing unhealthy habits and practices.
Do you have a favorite Thieves product?
We increase our use of sanitizer and oil during the Fall and Winter months. We use the household cleaner all year round. After all, when you have kids around who have been around other kids all day, you are very likely to bring some unwanted germ-like critters into the home.
Who likes that?!
We looked through some of our resources from our friends at The Oily Home Companion. Full disclosure: Crystal and Verick are in my upline within Young Living; unlike the stories some network marketing folks have, I have only great things to say about how they have supported the team since I joined as a Member back in 2014! Since we are a super creative household, we love the back to school focus and how the various blends are named so we know when to use them.
These are also a wonderful addition to your teacher’s back to school welcome gift if you send your child into school with one! Write out the blends on a nice index card or design it with handlettering if you’re gifted there, and package it with some Thieves Sanitizer and Cough Drops!
While we were looking through resources, we found these goodies as well!
Do you have favorite oils, supplements, or home care products you use this time of year to ensure your family’s wellness and energy?
When we think of all this wonderful stuff, we can help but get excited!
Do those faces look blue to you? We think they look more purple or yellow like – maybe even the neon type!!
To make this time of year smooth, we begin going back to a “school schedule” three weeks before school begins so we can both get used to waking up at the crack of dawn, being up all day focused on work instead of play, and ensure we are getting our bodies used to the new sleep schedules.
Do you do this at your home as well?
Computer time becomes more limited, with no electronic devices allowed after 7:30 pm. This is a time to relax, prepare lunches, get outfits ready for the next day, and spend family time together before bed. During family time, we:
- Journal
- Read together
- Pray
- Talk about our day – highs and lows
- Color
- Listen to music
- Meditate, if it’s been a stressful day
- Talk about an upcoming event we’re looking forward to
This transition from day into night helps our minds wind down and prepares her for a good nights rest. We don’t do all of the activities every night. We pick one or two.
What are some ways your family spends the time before bed?
In addition to preparing our bodies, we start to ensure she is caught up with math, reading, science, and other core subjects by playing some computer games throughout the day, using homeschool curriculum we’ve used throughout the summer, and having pop quizzes from time to time throughout the week. This helps her get back to using her mind frequently throughout the day.
She just realized that those pop quizzes were actually work not just fun!
With all the fun things we get to do, it can be hard to change your schedule. At bedtime we diffuse Lavender oil to promote relaxation. It leaves a pleasant smell in the room and allows her to enter a restful state quickly after the lights go out.
Each morning we diffuse either Christmas Spirit for a wonderful smelling pick me up or a blend of Lemon, Peppermint, and Sage or Rosemary to help us get moving! If we are still struggling to move our bodies quickly, I’ll put a dab of Brain Power in the bottoms of our feet.
We’re going to enjoy these last days of Summer as we transition into Fall and going back to school. But we’ll do so during the school hours to help us get used to our new after-school schedule. This means we try to move all appointments to their new time and ensure the school day hours during the last week before school are left open for any last-minute preparation.
And that makes us both happy!