Get more wordlessness at 5 Minutes for Mom, Resourceful Mommy, The Bonafide Life, Better in Bulk, Shanamama, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Momblog, The Divine Miss Mommy, Colorado Moms, Rajean Blomquist and Zensible Mama and link your own photo stories.

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Image credit NewsVine.com

KG headed back to school last Wednesday with the sun beating down at a swealtering 105 and faulty air conditioning, but so far this year has been good {I mean, we’re 5 days in…how bad could it be?}, she’s making some new friends and learning some fun stuff {like what germs look like, which coincidentally she wants to be for Halloween}. So she’s happy. I’m thrilled because for the first time in two months I have quiet between the hours of 1p & 3p again!! Naptime has come back to Casa Le Henson!! Course right now KJ is totally not asleep but playing quietly {because she thinks I can’t hear her} in her bed, but hey…it’s quiet so I’m not complaining.

My migraines however have not ceased, which is one of my excuses {yes, excuses because that’s what they are} for not blogging often. My head never. stops. hurting. It’s difficult to concentrate and type these damn words without screwing up. {If you only knew how times I’ve used the backspace button in these 3 short paragraphs you would be begging me to stop.}

I mentioned above that KG has been making new friends…well…some of her choices has prompted me to figure out a way to chat with her about her new friends.  Not all of them are the kinds of kiddos I want her spending her time with. Now I realize that she probably is not making forever friends here in the 2nd grade {especially if we’re planning to move in a few years}, but I feel like now is a good time to talk about friends and the consequences that come along with them. KG’s one of these kids who takes in the bullies (sp?) {and the ones who get bullied…don’t ask me how that works}, the kids who get in trouble all the time in class, and such….now, I don’t want her to be mean to these kids, or leave them out of fun time, but I would prefer that she seek out the kids who do well in class and make “good choices” as they call it.  Does that make me a bad person?

I mean…I didn’t tell her to stop being friends with these kids ad I certainly never named names, but we did sit down and have a discussion about how you are judged by the company you keep {fair or not it’s the truth and the way of the world} and I encouraged her to try spending more time with the kids who do make “good choices” {Thanks to my friend Tressa for giving me the idea to use the phrase “good choices, because it was one she understood}.

Tonight is our first PTSO meeting {yes, I’m still Secretary…even though I lost our website log-in & password when Jon cleaned the cookies off our PCs}, I’m hoping we get a decent turnout…I’ll let you know.

SO here’s my question for you:

Have you ever had a talk about what kinds of kiddos are good choices for friends? If so, how did you broach the subject? If not, how’s that working out?

Have a great day all!

Be good…or be good at it!

**Edited to add: I’m starting back to college Sept. 7th!! But don’t worry, I’ll write all about it in an upcoming blog post!**

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1. 13 Things We Love About Back to School
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Photo Courtesy of Mabel's Labels

making sure all of your kids things are labeled can be.  Within the first weeks of school KG has already misplaced her lunch box several times and permanently lost her favorite sweatshirt.  Now don’t get me wrong, I had labeled everything by hand the night before the first day, in fact, I spent hours making sure I had printed her name clearly on all of her new supplies.  By the time I was done, my hand was cramping and I was sure there was a better way.

Thankfully there is!  Mabel’s Labels makes keeping up with your child’s school supplies easier!  With labels of all shapes and sizes, Mabel’s Labels offers a practical and fun way to keep up with (hopefully) your child’s school supplies.

The wonderful folks over at Mabel’s Labels have generously offered to help a mother (or father) out this year by giving away one ultra popular Ultimate Back to School Combo!  The fabulous set includes 50 Tagmates, 40 Skinny Minis, 16 Shoe Labels, and 2 Teeny Tags in your choice of colors! (Retail value 39.00)

Want to know how to win?

Entry Details:
Visit Mabel’s Labels, then come back here and tell us what is your favorite product included in The Ultimate Back To School Combo.

Bonus Entries:

(You MUST comment separately to say each method)

• *One bonus entry per day: Tweet “Win a Mabel’s Labels Ultimate Back-to-School Combo http://tinyurl.com/n8lb2a” Retweets don’t count.
• *One bonus entry: Adding High Impact Mom to your blogroll.
• *One bonus entry: Subscribing to High Impact Mom
• *One bonus entry: Visit The Mabelhood and leave them a little comment love!
• *One bonus entry: Friend Mabel’s Labels on Facebook

Rules:

• *Contest is open to all U.S. and Canada residents where legal under local statutes.
• *Void where prohibited.
• *No purchase necessary.
• *Valid email address required. Entries with email addresses visible to the public will be deleted and are not valid.
• *Valid entries will be received beginning Wednesday, August 26, 2009 thru 11:59pm Friday, September 4, 2009.
• *Winner will be selected at random based on the list of valid comments using random.org.
• *Winner will be notified via their email address and have 3 days to respond to the email from amanda(at)highimpactmom(dot)com

Disclosure: I won a Back-to-School Combo as a consolation prize in the Mabel’s Labels Wish You Were Here contest.

Don’t forget to enter one of our great giveaways we have going on this week!

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1. New clothes-every little girl loves new clothes

2. School supplies!!-I love them…I know..I’m weird.

3. Set schedules-I, too, benefit from having a set schedule.

4. Having some alone time with KJ.

5. Having some alone time. Alone.

6. Fewer toys strung across the house, fewer…but still there.

7. KG’s excitement-It’s contagious.

8. New friends-Each new school year brings new friends

9. Old friends-It’s always nice to see familiar faces.

10. New teachers-A chance to start over and have a clean slate (not that she needed it)

11. New classrooms

12.  New PTSO year-Kind of.

13.  *Ahem* School supplies-KG said she loved them too so they counted for two.

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With just a few minor adjustments to your daily routine and buying habits you can save a bundle over time and do your part for the environment.

*Instead of using plastic bags to put your kiddlet’s lunch goodies consider purchasing reusable plastic containers.  These can be used for everything from sandwiches to dried fruit and other goodies.

*Purchase an easy to open small sports bottle and fill each day with your child’s favorite drink.  Just make sure it has a good seal, we don’t want it to spill out and soak kiddlet’s food.

*Stop buying individually packaged foods. I know this is one you’ve heard before, but I can’t stress enough how easy and how big of a money saver this is.  Individually packaged foods not only cost more, but require more natural resources to package.

*Let your child pick out their favorite cloth napkin design and I suggest purchasing 5 or so.  It may seem like up front, but you’ll be glad you don’t have to wash the same napkin every night.  Plus you’re more likely to continue using them if it isn’t a hassle.

*Invest in a sturdy, insulated lunchbox sans characters.  Yes, they’re cute and yes, your child is going to whine for one..but putting the money down on a good one now that will last them many school years with save you money in the long run.

*Rather than sending plasticware each day, spend a little money and pick up a couple packages of cheap toddler reusable forks and spoons.  Toddlerware is great because if your child accidentally throws it away it’s no big deal and they can be washed and reused.

We’ve been doing these few small things since KG started school last year and it has saved a ton of money along the way.  I’m also impressed by how much KG has gleaned from these small practices; she asks for snacks in bowls/containers rather than in a snack bag and loves to drink out of her very own water bottle.

I would love to hear your frugal or green back to school tips!

Please share them with me here!!

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