Tips For Getting Ready For Back To School

*Thanks to Gymboree for sponsoring this post! As always, all opinions are my own Thanks for supporting the brands that keep The Mama Notes running! 

Back to school is HERE! Piper starts today, and is soooo excited about going to pre-school. She’s going back to the same school she was at last year but will now be in the pre-school program, we are pretty sure she thinks its a whole new school so I’ll be curious to see how today goes :) The past few weeks we’ve been transitioning into BTS mode — and of course that included doing some shopping! I’ve partnered with the all NEW Gymboree today to share a few of my favorite picks for fall along with tips on how to prepare your little one for school  – and yourself!

Piper’s wearing this green Velvet Dress, these fun polka dot socks and pom-pom sneakers!

The all new Gymboree is pretty awesome — I was so excited to see the modern and playful designs with the same dependable quality the brand is known for. I had a really hard time picking out a few things for Piper to wear – I love all of the graphic tees and ruffles. I had to get this dress since Piper loves all things ‘cozy’. All of the pieces easily mix and match and the baby clothes are just sooo soft. Here are a few more of my favorite pieces for fall:

Flower Leggings, Among Wolves Tee, Metallic Boots, Colorblock Sweater Dress, Velvet Culottes , Stripe Ribbed Tee, Bird Velour Top , Dino Tee, Ghost Sweatshirt, Button Joggers, Metallic Sneakers

Piper’s wearing this ruffle sweater + cozy cord pants.

Gearing up for back to school is definitely period of transition. Since this is Piper’s 2nd year at school it’s not as overwhelming and I have a few tips to help with the big change that we’ve learned so far….

+ Start changing your routine at least a week before school starts. For us that means getting up and ready to get out of the house (vs. hanging out in our PJs for hours), getting back into the swing of prepping food at night (making overnight oatmeal, filling the coffee pot so it’s ready to brew in the AM) and picking our outfits before bed for the next day. Getting in the right mindset before the routine actually changes is always helpful!

+Back to school is an exciting time of year, make it FUN for your kids! Let them pick out some of their own clothes! Go shoe shopping together. Plan a special dinner the night before the first day. You know what you makes your kids happy, get creative! I love all these reader suggested BTS traditions!

+If your child is going to a new school I highly suggest talking with them about doing a ‘gentle start’ if they don’t already have a program in place. Go visit the classroom and meet the teacher one day, the next visit stay for half-day and then they’ll be more comfortable when you drop them off for good!

+Go play on the playground at school! Try to set up a playdate if you can get email addresses for other parents.

+Get YOURSELF organized. Meal plan and prep, stock your fridge + pantry. Get a new calendar or planner for the school year with important dates highlighted. Order labels with your kids names, new lunchboxes and bento gear.

 

Gymboree has a fun new Made You Smile app – you can download it in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for free. It brings Gymboree’s graphic tees to life with augmented reality and features a made-to-share Smile Generator. Downloading the app also lets you enter to win hundreds of thousands of dollars of amazing prizes in the Surprize Surprize Sweepstakes. Every time you shop in store, you’re guaranteed to win a prize, and you can also enter weekly drawings for prizes like a year of free ice cream or a new car!