Its a Hero

Finding Our Back-to-School Groove with Big Lots

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This blog post is written in partnership with and sponsored by Big Lots.  As always all opinions herein are my own.

It’s hard to believe that we’re nearly a month into our new normal. Ari, almost 6-year old, began kindergarten in the middle of August. Prior to his start, I saw memes all over Facebook about how excited parents were for the back-to-school season to start. But frankly, I was terrified. Don’t get me wrong — I was excited for him to begin this new stage of life, but I was also anxious about adding yet another transition period to our crazy life with a newborn. I certainly expected our days to be easier with one less child at home, but days with a newborn and 2-year-old are never easy.

I realized quickly that adjustments to my routine needed to occur. I needed to maximize my time by sticking to a solid schedule and doing lots of prep work.

Here’s what has kept us on track with our back-to-school transition:

1. Planning out our time with a clear, well-visible, family calendar.

I started using a big wall calendar over the Summer in an effort to plan out our month. Each type of activity and commitment has a different color so I can check our schedule at a quick glance. Meetings, athletics, and parties all go on the calendar. I’ve stuck to this for the first month of school as well. Sure, digital calendars are great, but sometimes I want to see everything displayed for all of us.

2. Prioritizing our time.

The major way I maximize my time spent preparing for each school day is by shopping at Big Lots. Big Lots has literally everything I need to help make our week run as smoothly as possible.

The newly remodeled stores make it easy for me to find everything I need — from a new coffee pot (Mama needs her caffeine, ya’ll!), to an electric skillet for easy dinners, to everything we need for our after-school snack fix — Big Lots has it all. I’m even able to tackle dinner with grocery items in their refrigerated section and grab the rest of my dry ingredients from the shelves.

What’s even better is that the Big Lots Big Rewards program helps us to get the most bang for our buck — with discounts, specials, and coupons after every three visits!

The items I’ve picked up have helped tremendously with this transition. Ari has a dedicated space where he can work on homework while I can see him from the kitchen. He’s able to grab his school work off of the bookshelf (purchased at Big Lots), throw on his Bluetooth headphones (also picked up at Big Lots!), and get down to business.

It’s truly helped us both to stay on task. I’m able to easily transition from helping him with his homework to making sure I don’t burn the dinner I’m cooking in the Bella Electric Skillet.

3. Organizing our home. 

I’ll admit that the last couple of years I have been less organized than I’d prefer. I just really don’t have the luxury of being disorganized any longer. There are important school papers that I need to have on-hand and other documents for PTA, Girls on the Run, and work. It’s just a lot.

I picked up this beautiful metal rolling cart from Big Lots and I was able to file important paperwork for school in one drawer and work in another drawer. And I’ll never lose my keys again (which seriously used to happen every single day) with this new mail and key holder.

Honestly, staying organized has reduced my stress levels, which automatically makes things easier for everyone in my family. I’m no longer searching for ‘lost’ items when we should be leaving for school.

As long as we stick to our schedule, stay organized, and keep shopping at Big Lots for all of our needs, I think we’ll all succeed this school year!

What’s your favorite way to shop at Big Lots for back-to-school?

 

 

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Comments

  3. Sheila Rhodes

    I’m a huge Big Lots fan! I agree you can buy anything you need from A-Z! The fun thing about Big Lot’s is there is always something new to see. This month it is all about the pumpkin! I love your metal rolling cart I may have to pick up one of those for myself!

    Reply

  8. Cathy

    I don’t think I’ve ever shopped at a Big Lots, but it sounds like I definitely need to find the closest one to me! P.S. As a planner girl, I totally agree that having a family calendar and prioritizing time is like #1! I don’t know how we’d stay sane without ours!

    Reply

  10. Marysa

    I haven’t been to Big Lots in years, but I should check it out. It would be nice to snag some deals and stock up, too. I need to get organized for this school year!

    Reply

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