Label your personal belongings!

School has begun for most of the country. Backpack toting, lunchbox carrying, pencil box using kids are settling in to class to crank up the old thinker. As parents, we put quite a bit of money into preparing them for school. Buying them supplies and clothing to assist them in their educational adventure. 
We have to make sure our investments last though. One way to do that is to label our child's belongings.

Having a name and number on things let's everyone else who might come in contact with it, know who the owner is.

Whether your child is in band, athletics, or just the regular school routine, there are things they have to bring in on a regular basis.

Label those bags and equipment! Label Daddy has so many packages to choose from as well types of labels to fit your needs. 

"Save 20% on Label Daddy labels! Label Daddy is the number one solution for labeling your belongings! Remember to label all clothing, sports equipment, electronics, and other personal belongings your kids bring to school, camp, sports leagues, day care, vacation, and other places. Label Daddy labels keep them from getting lost or mixed up with others. 

These labels are super durable peel-and-stick washable labels -- they're washer/dryer safe, microwave safe, dishwasher safe and UV resistant! Label Daddy labels are also fun and attractive. You design your own labels! Pick from tons of colors, sizes and logos, including Disney and Marvel characters, MLB, NBA, and NHL team logos, other sport and fun logos, and more. Their exclusive laminated coating gives labels an extra layer of protection and is a must for camp! These labels are made in the USA and shipped directly to you worldwide.

Save 20% on your entire Label Daddy order - this is the best discount available anywhere. Use code USFAMILY20 at checkout. http://www.usfamily20.labeldaddy.com"

Hammermill laser printer paper review

I received some Hammermill laser print office paper via Shoplet.com.

Hammermill laser paper is definitely different than the normal Target brand printer paper we get. It's softer like silk and shows brighter when held in comparison.

The print jobs I tested it with were brighter. It also seemed quicker and smoother. 

As a bonus, they sent a stuffed zebra toy that my daughter has taken prisoner and refuses to return. I also have this lovely coffee mug that changes scenery when it heats up. Sharks anyone? I love it! I had to hide it away as I refuse to share it with my roommate. 

So don't hesitate to check out the amazing variety of office supplies that Shoplet has to offer. They also have cleaning supplies, medical supplies, and office furniture. 

Breakfast is the most important meal?

I hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. My children see this repeated on their tv shows quite often. So why is this considered a "breakfast" by government standards?

Schools included in the program get to provide free breakfasts to children. According to the school my boys are in, you get 3-4 free items on your plate. In order for them to get this free plate, they have to have a fruit or juice with it. Anything past that, you pay for. So if I wanted to add cereal and milk, its at least .50 extra. Not a lot, but for a 5 year old, how do you think they handle the money? Or have to memorize a pin to access their account. Fortunately for my kids, they are light eaters in the morning after waking up. But by 9-ish, they are ready to start eating. At school, they won't eat lunch until 11:15. 
For each child that participates, the government reimburses the school so much money. 
My kids are in Kindergarten. I can see this being okay for their age group. Especially as so many kids seem to be obese even at that age. But what about the older kids? So far as I could tell, this amount was for everyone. Do they hold all ages to the same amounts of food? If that's the case, what is lunch like? Thankfully, I make my children's lunches. But still. And then, what if they are super active? They will burn through this meal like a comet entering the atmosphere. So who sets the limits? Who decides how much is enough? I didn't see anything that explained what I wanted to know on the fact sheet posted to the government website that I linked above. I will make sure that I continue packing hefty snacks and lunches for my boys. They have a very high metabolism like me. 
The lunch program looks to be the same only they provide just a slight bit more than breakfast. But there is the problem of whether a school is submitting fraudulent applications to boost their funding. Or if the school your child is in is following the guidelines set out by Michelle Obama, chances are good your child will opt out of eating anything at all.

Why? Well, look at the things approved for the menu. Are they things you make at home or eat on a regular basis? Is your child a picky eater? If a kid doesn't like something, they won't eat. Not until they are starving and they have absolutely no choice. I approve of someone taking action in making things healthier and trying to help in the fight against child obesity. What I don't approve of is going to such lengths that the above lunches are considered "enough" to satisfy a child old enough to tweet it. 

As parents, its our responsibility to make sure that our children are taken care of. We might drop them into the hands of others for 7+ hours while we make a living or otherwise handle life, but at the end of the day its our job to care for them. We are to provide them the best in life. So make sure your child is eating the appropriate amount. The government may set standards, but those standards don't fit the needs of every individual. We know our kids. We know their needs. Let's keep them on the healthy living track that we know they need. 

Getting into the school swing

Its definitely not easy. I'm on day two and the best thing I have going is getting their lunches packed neatly and fully.

I check their backpack and ask questions about how their day went. They are liking it, but it seems we need to work on our routines. They begged to have school breakfast this morning, but after dropping them off they didn't eat. Either the adults didn't understand or my boys were too shy to ask for what they needed help with. So tomorrow I will walk them into school and show them how to get food in the morning. Then there is the problem of them coming home and wanting to go straight to bed. Not that I can blame them, but when they do that they don't want to sleep on time at night. 

I'm glad they enjoy going to class. We even ran into one of my sons classmates at HEB today. She recognized him and tried to call out to him but he was grouchy because I wouldn't let him sit or sleep. Its going to take dedication. I'm going to have to be creative too. We have to get a schedule and activities figured out to make this work. 

But over all I'm making the transition from days like this... 

To days of this... 

And learning how to save money on lunch box foods. I found out that a box like this... 

Is about even in price with 7 boxes of this... 

And I can pack them in reusable sacks like SnackTaxi bags. 

While that's going on, I'm also going job searching and will soon be back at work. It's a trial, but we will make this school year awesome!