Dinner Planning For Back To School

Another summer has quickly passed us by. The kids have reluctantly gone back to school. It stands to reason that life should be a little less hectic, right? Unfortunately, that’s usually not the case. Between all of your daily ‘Mom obligations’, helping with homework and providing transportation to every extra-curricular activity under the sun, you probably have little time to devote to dinner planning.

Many times busy parents resort to hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, frozen pizza or frequent trips to a fast-food restaurant. That’s not healthy for you or the kids – not to mention its pretty rough on the family grocery budget.

Kitchen time savers

There are things you can do to cut down on time spent in the kitchen. Pick one day a week and prepare several freezer friendly meals. You can even go the extra mile and package them in individual serving size containers. Doing so will provide your family with a larger variety of entrée choices, on any given day.

Do you have friends that are intrigued with the idea of a one-day a week cooking spree or a meal planning service? Get together with 2 or 3 of them. Each of you decides on 2 main dishes you want to prepare. Buy enough ingredients to make the entrees for each family.

You need to plan ahead

One simple thing that you can do is keep an ample supply of fresh fruits, salad ingredients, soups and fresh sandwich fixings, on hand. Quick meals such as this are nutritious and don’t require a great deal of preparation time.

If you take on the task of meal planning and want to get in the habit of consistently putting together weekly menus yourself, you may be surprised at how much time it involves. Did you know that the typical family meal planner spends roughly 3 hours per week combing through cookbooks, choosing recipes and compiling a grocery list? That translates into 156 hours, per year. Yikes!

A menu service can help

You can say goodbye to last minute thrown together meals and eliminate the stress of dinner planning for your family by subscribing to a meal planning service. This type of service is very affordable, usually costing only a few cents per day. Menus are often designed to be family friendly and easily adaptable.

When you purchase a subscription to a service such as this, your membership will typically feature a weekly menu emailed right to your inbox. This includes seven main dish recipes, side dish suggestions and dessert ideas. As an added benefit, you receive a detailed shopping list, categorized by aisle, which makes your trip to the grocery store that much easier. Simply cross off items already in your pantry, add any other products you may be in need of and you’re off!

If you enjoy planning your own menu, you may want to consider a dinner planning service, in addition to your own choices. Why? It will still save you time, in the long run. Use the membership menu as a base. Then, search for recipes that will deliciously compliment that weekly plan.

Remember, nothing is more important than family time. Don’t let dinner planning get you down. Consider the suggestions we’ve made and you’ll spend less time
slaving over hot stove and more time with the people you love.

For a free weekly trial of a family friendly menu planning service, visit www.dinewithoutwhine.com .

School Bus Stop Safety Tips

All parents whose children take the bus to school want to ensure they will arrive safely. However, there can be times when safety becomes an issue, especially at bus stops. Here are some tips to guarantee your child will be safe not only walking to the bus stop but before and after the bus arrives.

* Children should be told not to run to catch any bus. Leaving early will avoid missing the bus and any chance of a child falling because they are in a hurry.
* Stay well away from the curb when standing at a bus stop.
* When walking to the bus stop with other children, do not play or run around in the street.
* All children under 12 should be accompanied by another adult or older sibling when walking to the bus stop. In addition, waiting with the child until they safely board the school bus is recommended.
* Children should be told not to talk to any strangers at the bus stop.
* Children should be warned that if anyone in a car stops and calls them over, they should run away screaming.
* Children who are approached by anyone for any reason should report the incident to the bus driver.
* Children should be told not to shove other kids onto the bus. Board the bus slowly and in a single file.
The fact that schools do not take responsibility until the moment the children boards the school bus is a major factor in ensuring the child is safe before arriving to school. In addition, in some states where children are picked up by school buses, care has to be taken to avoid any injury to the child.
Oftentimes buses stop in the middle of a street, double-park, or stop away from a child’s home. Children should be told to look both ways before boarding the bus in these instances since some school buses have the automated stop sign which signal other vehicles to stop, and others do not.

These school bus safety tips are just some ways in which children need to be made aware of situations which may occur when waiting for the school bus to arrive.

Back to School Tips - Encouraging Good Study Habits

When we were kids, if we didn’t do our homework there were severe consequences. Today, with TV, video games, and other distractions available for kids to put off studying and completing homework assignments, encouraging study habits at the beginning of the school year can make all the difference in a child’s educational achievements.

Here are some tips which can motivate your child to implement good study habits for school.

* Designate an area or room where your child has a desk and chair.
* Ensure there is no TV, boom box, or other distractions in the room.
* Determine when homework should begin. If the child wishes to begin homework assignments upon arriving home, have a snack available for them until dinnertime.
* If the homework is not completed by then, they can continue after dinner, but only up to a certain time.
* Allowing a specified time for homework is also recommended.
* Taking ten minutes breaks in between homework assignments can alleviate the child becoming too tired to continue.
* Getting up and walking around the room or simply stretching can also alleviate leg and back pain.
* Ask family members to eliminate as much noise as possible during study time.
* If your child has a problem with a subject area, it is recommended that you offer assistance but not to engage in completing any homework assignment.
* Ensure the child has a good night’s sleep. Oftentimes children are so tired they come home and take a nap, thus they begin their homework at a late hour and the cycle continues the next day.

It is estimated that children today have to spend more time attending to homework and studying than the average person spends in an office. Whether your child attends elementary, middle, or high school, having the tools to achieve success begins with a set of rules and regulations for the entire family which can help your child maintain good study habits.

Children have a lot of pressure at school and are bombarded with assignments every day. Whatever can be done to alleviate any stress associated with homework and studying can only lead to good habits and a happy and healthy outlook.

Back To School Tips - How to Help Ease First Day Anxiety

Most children, and parents, are either extremely excited or are dreading a new school year depending on expectations. Was last year a good year? Have friendships, schools, teachers, or even physical characteristics changed?

While it is difficult to remember your own first days of school, it is easy to remember your first day at your most recent job or to think how you would feel if you had to start a new job tomorrow. The nervousness and anxiety that you go through is very similar to what it’s like for your child. New faces, new expectations, new friends, it can be overwhelming.

How do you help to ease your child’s anxiety?
1. Relax

Your moods directly affect your children’s moods, reactions, and responses to events. This means that it is important to stay as calm and positive as you can about the upcoming change. If possible, make sure to set aside time to relax and spend time with your family.

2. Don’t add any new things to your schedule
Back to school time is not the time to move, get a new puppy or undergo any major home renovations. If at all possible, wait for any new changes until after the new school year routine has been established and your children have fallen into a groove. This helps them cope with one major change at a time.

3. Reduce the surprises
One of the biggest sources of anxiety is the unknown. Who is the teacher? What do they look like? Where is my classroom? Do I have any friends in my class? The list of unknowns goes on and on. Reduce the surprises by taking advantage of back to school events. If that isn’t an option, consider just taking your child to the school and walking around it a day or two before school is scheduled to begin.

4. Back-to-school party?!
Consider inviting your child’s friends over to your home for a back-to-school party. This gives children the opportunity to reconnect and eliminate some of the social anxiety connected with returning to school. Additionally, it will enable them to figure some things out before they get to school. Things like where the classrooms are, who is in the class, and so on. It even allows them to commiserate about their anxieties and, thus, help each other to feel better about beginning school again.

5. Don’t Dismiss
While it is important to remain calm about the beginning of school and not show your own anxieties about their success, it is also more important to not be dismissive about your child’s anxieties. Your child’s fears are real and legitimate. Listen to his worries and don't minimize, dismiss, or try to talk him out of them.

Easing your child’s anxiety is more than listening to him and being there for him. One of the best ways to ease anxiety about beginning school is to let your child know what to expect and that starts before his first day.