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Amazon Prime Day Wed. Oct. 14 Favorites

10/13/2020

Day 2 of Amazon Prime Day favorites! Today, we are sharing our ideas for fun Amazon Prime Day stocking stuffers and little gifts for the holidays! Please note, you help support our Messy Mommies blog by shopping with our links and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

We love this magnetic car phone holder!

Up your selfie game with this ring light!

Time to break out the karaoke!

Someone very clever invented this nail polish holder!

With so many people staying home, there is a bigger need for beard combs!

Get ride of stinky feet with these fun sneaker balls!

You can never have enough chargers!

We love grilling out!

We love reusable straws!

Amazon Prime Day Oct. 13 Favorites

10/13/2020

Today is Amazon Prime Day! We are so excited to share some of our favorite items that make great gifts and will help make the holidays special! Please note, you help support our Messy Mommies blog by shopping with our links and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

You must be an Amazon Prime member to receive the Amazon Prime Day Deals. Not a member yet? Sign up now!

Shop our Amazon Prime Day Favorites!
Kids Holiday Gift Ideas
Learning Resources Botley The Coding Robot 2.0 Activity Set, Coding Robot for Kids, STEM Toy, Early Programming, Ages 5+ https://amzn.to/2GK5T3X
Kids Beginner Microscope STEM Kit - We love science and this kit is awesome! https://amzn.to/3nKg8px
Lucky Doug Toy, 192 Pcs Race Car Track Toys Included 2 Cars and 1 Bridge with Lights and Sounds, Christmas Toys Gift for Kids, Toddler Age 3+ https://amzn.to/2SQdCjh
Roblox Action Collection - Legends of Roblox Six Figure Pack (Includes Exclusive Virtual Item) https://amzn.to/3lMjSFf
Hasbro Princess Candyland - So cute! https://amzn.to/2GTEah9
ELOVER Slime Advent Calendar 2020 for Girls Great Surprise Countdown to Christmas for Kids Teens - https://amzn.to/3lHe3bZ
Taco vs Burrito - The Wildly Popular Surprisingly Strategic Card Game Created by a 7 Year Old https://amzn.to/2Fp4KxR

Family and Friends Holiday Gift Ideas
Apple AirPods w/Charging Chase (Wired) - Great deal on AirPods! https://amzn.to/3lTR0en
Fitbit Versa Lite Edition Smart Watch - Get fit with this great deal! https://amzn.to/371atFG
“Holiday” Homesick Candle - https://amzn.to/2SObJnh
H iRobot Roomba 692 Robot Vacuum-Wi-Fi Connectivity, Works with Alexa, Good for Pet Hair, Carpets, Hard Floors, Self-Charging, Charcoal Grey https://amzn.to/3nFAYX7 Under $200
Beats Solo Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling On-Ear Headphones - Apple H1 Headphone Chip, Class 1 Bluetooth, Active Noise Cancelling https://amzn.to/3143Mib
RENPHO Foot Massager Machine with Heat, Shiatsu Deep Kneading, Squeez, Relieve Foot Discomforts, Fits feet up to Men Size 12 https://amzn.to/2SNF1Co

Cooking Ideas
Instant Pot Duo Crisp Pressure Cooker 11 in 1 w/ Air Fryer, 8 Qt https://amzn.to/3jYkffh
AmazonBasics Enameled Cast Iron Covered Dutch Oven, 6-Quart, Blue - Perfect for fall soups and the holidays! - https://amzn.to/34VfJb4
Handmade Sloth Tween Girl Apron Gift for Kitchen or Art https://amzn.to/2IuLv7v

Balloon Decorations
Pretex Balloon Pump Electric Air Blower Dual Nozzle Portable Balloon Inflator for Fast and Easy Bulk Balloons Filling for Event and Party Decoration - We have this balloon inflator and love it! https://amzn.to/311Hxtg

Are you ready for Amazon Prime Day? We are so excited!

10/12/2020

We are so excited for Amazon Prime Day on October 13 and 14! With all of the uncertainty and angst in 2020, one thing we know for sure is that the holidays are approaching and will be a time for celebration. And, while there is uncertainty of how we will celebrate, we are sure family and friends will be part of the celebration, whether in person or remotely. Now is the time to start thinking about what will make the upcoming celebrations special even if the ways we celebrate are different from years past!

The Messy Mommies will be sharing some of our favorite items that make great gifts, and also products that will help make the holiday season special whether you are cooking and baking through the holidays, helping the kids entertain themselves when taking a break from eLearning, or things to help you while working from home. We are providing direct links in our stories to items we think are great!

Please note, you help support our blog by shopping with our links and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!

You must be an Amazon Prime member to receive the Amazon Prime Day Deals. Not a member yet? Click the image below and sign up today!

Amazon Prime Day tips for shopping! Download the Amazon App and turn on notifications for deals! Watch for the Prime Day badges! Ask Alexa, "Alexa, what are my Prime Day deals?"

Get ready for the holidays!
Find some inspiration in the Amazon gift guides!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, why not start planning for this special day. First, many of you may be thinking it’s time to pull out the flannel and we couldn’t agree more. Check out this cozy flannel shirt available in several colors. It will be perfect for the backyard friendly game of football or cozying up on the couch to watch a movie, and both adult and youth sizes are available. We also have a great hostess gift suggestion, or a gift for someone who can’t make it to the table this year, the Holiday Homesick Candle. Homesick Candles is a company on a mission “to connect people everywhere through the power of scent.” We love the “Chicago” candle but check out all of the options here Homesick Candles.

It’s always great to have a special playlist during the holidays. The New York Times WireCutter website rates Ultimate Ears WonderBoom 2 as the top bluetooth speaker. This will allow you to play all your favorite tunes during the holidays Wonderboom 2.
While the number of guests you host this year may be fewer as in years past, hopefully you are still planning to make a delicious pie. Two of our favorite kitchen tools that help make whipping up this Thanksgiving favorite are linked here:
Emile Henry 9” pie dish
OXO Good Grips Swivel Peeler

If you happen to have leftovers, check out these Rubbermaid storage containers. The plastic food containers are not only dishwasher safe but microwave safe so heating up your leftovers is super easy!

And finally, we leave you with a fun family game. Left Center Right is a game our family has played over the years. The winner is always a happy camper. Make it a bit more fun by using dollar bills instead of the chips included in the game. The winner will be ready for Black Friday Shopping! And speaking of Black Friday…shop Amazon Prime Days and check out these great ideas for gift giving during Christmas.

What is your favorite RECIPE MAde While staying home in 2020?

10/2/2020

I hope you are enjoying the newness of fall and hopefully moments of joy during the continued pandemic. I am grateful each morning that we are able to get up and get ready to face the day. Eleanora is very much enjoying the opportunity to physically go to her school and see her teachers and friends in person. While this year’s 8th grade experience does not seem the same as it may have been in years past, this year is special nonetheless.

Last year I self-published the cookbook, Together: Recipes to Bring Family and Friends to the Table. I was excited to create this book because each of the recipes made their way into my kitchen thanks to the sharing of family and friends over the years. I love cookbooks of all kinds so why not write one! Also, while I very much enjoy baking and cooking, I want to make it very clear that I have no special training as a chef or baker. However, while I was in 8th grade, I did have to take the required class, Home Economics, for one semester. If you have a copy of my cookbook you will find a cookie recipe that my sister made while she took the same class four years prior to me. Seriously, sharing that this was one of my middle school class requirements dates me, but I will share it was a required class for ALL students. Looking back it was a good opportunity to learn about healthy ways to shop and cook. We even “learned” how to sew! I still laugh about the sewing portion of the class with my friend! Somehow the pattern never produced the shorts pictured on the front of the McCall’s pattern envelope. The other semester was spent in Industrial Arts! I guess those were the early days of ‘makers labs’ now found in many schools.

Anyway, I would really love to mark this crazy time of the Covid-19 pandemic by creating a second cookbook, Together Again! For me, March 13, 2020 began a new time for our family. We had to shift our thinking and change our plans for how we lived out most of our days. With Eleanora home from school working at the kitchen counter completing assignments given online by her teachers, and Matt setting up office in our dining room and canceling all work travel, we were spending more time together than we had in quite a long time. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were now something we looked forward to not only because we were hungry, but because we could all be together for each meal. During the last six months, we have tried many new recipes and tried to make a very uncertain time somewhat enjoyable. Luckily during this time we have been healthy and are very fortunate to have our friends and family remain healthy as well. My hope is that you too were able to have some enjoyable moments and possibly enjoy a meal or special dessert or drink that you, a family member or friend made for you. While we have had the opportunity to enjoy take out from favorite restaurants in the city during this time and even dine outside this summer at some of our regular lunch or dinner spots, we have done a lot more cooking (and washing of dishes) at home.

If you have been cooking at home, I’m looking to you to see if you are interested in participating in the creation of Together Again, a cookbook that will celebrate good food as well as tell a bit of what people have been doing during this pandemic. Several holidays, milestones and birthdays were celebrated during this time. These events were most likely celebrated in a much different way than in previous years or as initially planned. My hope is to create this book that can be used by many to bake a sweet dessert, a savory appetizer or a delicious entree to be shared with others when we finally can all be together again after this pandemic is over!

If there is a special family recipe you made during this pandemic I would love to hear from you! Would you be willing to share the recipe and the story of how/why it is special? If you take a peek at my cookbook Together, you will see that I included a short introduction of the recipe, the recipe itself and a photo of the food. At this point, I plan to present the recipes in a similar format. While I mentioned earlier, I love cookbooks and many times find great recipes in them to try out in my own kitchen. With that said, if you have discovered a favorite recipe in a cookbook/magazine/website, please reference that in your response to me. I would like to give credit to the author/chef of that cookbook/recipe. I also find myself starting with a recipe and sometimes changing it by omitting items or better yet, adding one or two of my favorite ingredients to make a recipe suited to my taste.

I am in the planning phase of this project and do not have a publisher. Together Again will most likely be my second self-published book. I am researching various self-publishing sites, ebook options and reaching out to local publishers that may be able to assist with this project. With that said, I look forward to the work ahead to produce a cookbook that holds special memories and can do that with or without a publisher.

I have two fun things to include in this next cookbook! First, the Murer family ZOOM Cake Baking Contest will be featured in the book with the recipes each participant made and shared over the Zoom call. Additionally, my dad’s 80th birthday celebration this past July in Tennessee will be highlighted with a few favorite family recipes we enjoyed that weekend. Do you have a delicious family recipe that you were able to make during this time? If so, I would love to have your story and recipe as part of Together Again.

I look forward to hearing from you! Send your recipe story, recipe and picture to hollymurer@yahoo.com by October 20, 2020. Also, if you know of a publisher who may be interested in this project, let me know.

xo,
Holly
You can check out my cookbook Together: Recipes to Bring Family and Friends to the Table here!
www.blurb.com/b/9645370-together

Cheers to the little things & why we love On The Rocks Cocktails!

10/1/2020

I firmly believe it's the little things that are going to get us through these tough times. And cocktails, great cocktails. The coronavirus pandemic, the elections, racial injustices, back to school either in-person or remote, natural catastrophes, and so much more keep piling on the worry and stress. It's important for us to take few minutes for the little things to recharge so we can keep plowing through the train wreck of 2020. That is exactly what the Messy Mommies did with our September virtual Zoom "Girls Night In!"

Messy Mommy Holly and I decided to do a Zoom "Girls Night In" because we had survived the past six months and the kids were back in school in-person! These mommas needed a drink with their Messy Mommies friends! We think the little things can help make you feel special and make a good gathering become great. We invited Messy Mommies friends and Holly shared her fabulous pretzel dip recipe with the gals. Because we knew everyone really needed a drink, we wanted to make it special. I've been following On The Rocks Cocktails on Instagram at @OTRcocktails and loved their posts. I read about why 3 friends created On The Rocks Cocktails and was so impressed with their hustle and passion for cocktails and people. Check out this great article, How On The Rocks Cocktails Came to Be in D Magazine! I searched out these ready to drink cocktails and found them at Binny's! They lived up to the hype! So, to help cheer on our friends and prep for our Zoom, we dropped off On The Rocks Cocktails and pretzels on front porches and Instacarted the drinks to our friends in Chicago. Now, that is a delivery that definitely makes you smile!

The day of our Zoom I said to Holly, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could get a message from Liz Foster, the Social Marketing Director for On the Rocks cocktails for our Zoom?" I had searched on LinkedIn to try to figure out who was their social media rockstar and had found Liz's name. Holly agreed and I sent a message to Liz on Instagram with my crazy request. I really didn't think I would hear back. I as so surprised and happy when she responded that she could send a video. I almost fell out of my chair when Liz sent me not just a video of her sending cheers to our Messy Mommies gals, but two videos!

Our friends joined our Zoom that evening and we had fun introductions since not everyone knew each other and we were sharing who had kids remote learning or in person. We all were so happy to be talking to other adults! I thanked our gang for joining and said that we had a special video to kick-off our Girls Night In. I surprised the girls with Liz's so fun video and they thought it was so cool. Watch Liz now!

But wait! There's more! Then I played the video from the co-founder of On The Rocks Cocktails, Rocco Milano and the gals couldn't believe that Rocco did a video for us! It was awesome and we did a cheers to Liz and Rocco. It's the little things that make us smile and make a difference right now. And, it may have seemed like a little thing to Liz and Rocco to send off a quick video but it was a big thing to me and so fun! As we toasted and cheered, we were all so glad to be together, even virtually! Rocco also told us how they serve the On The Rocks Cocktails at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora! I had to look up where Bora Bora is and we all decided we need to go there. Definitely more smiles during our Zoom thanks to Liz and Rocco! Watch Rocco now!

Next up, Holly shared a great one pot and one pan recipe to help with our back to school meals. You can find the recipes here. So good! Then, Treva talked about the latest Tastefully Simple fall products and she whipped up an appetizer on our Zoom! It was like she was on a TV talk show! Again, it's the little things that are the pockets of joy during this crazy time. Send Treva a message on Facebook to place your Tastefully Simple order! We shared which OTR Cocktails we were drinking and chatted about kids, back to school, cooking and more. Amy's schedule had changed and she was a late add to our Zoom but her OTR Cocktails arrived via Instacart during our Zoom which was super fun. Our time flew by but we all seemed to decompress a bit and laugh a lot.

As we look to the months ahead, we hope you'll take some time for the little things and gather some friends for a cocktail. Taking a few minutes to talk and laugh was fantastic and I know we'll be making time to do so again soon.

Huge thanks to Rocco and Liz for being a part of our Messy Mommies in the City "Girls Night In" and thanks for your fantastic cocktails! They are delicious and strong! You can search for a location near you that carries the ready to chill and drink OTR Cocktails on the website! Our favorites are the cosmo, mai tai, and margarita! We still need to try the Aviation! Rocco, Liz, and all our Messy Mommies friends, we look forward to seeing you all at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora sometime soon! We'll meet you at the bar on the beach and will be drinking the On The Rocks Cocktails.

September Favorites

9/29/2020

Before the calendar flips to October, we are sharing a few of our favorites for September! With everything going on in the world, we definitely need alcohol, fashion, encouragement, and friends! Please check out the following, like, share, comment, follow, and support these amazing people and products! Cheers to all our Messy Mommies and friends for making it through another month!

Pick-up On the Rocks Cocktails! The kids are back in school and momma needs a drink! On the Rocks Cocktails are our new favorite cocktails! We love the ready to drink cocktails so much that we sent all the moms joining us for our virtual "girls night in" On the Rocks Cocktails! Then, Rocco Milano, the co-founder of @OTRcocktails and Liz Foster, the social marketing director sent us videos for our Zoom which was awesome! The cosmo and mai tais are our favorites! We found these fabulous drinks at Binny's and Jewel-Osco. You can also find them at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora, we'll meet you there!

Follow the Recruiter Mom on social media! My awesome friend Laura Hanson and I were recently talking about the coronavirus pandemic, staying home and clothes. We are not going anywhere and I feel like I'm wearing the same work out clothes over and over even though I'm not working out! Laura asked if I followed Ryanne, The Recruiter Mom on social media and she said I should. So, I started following her and she is so encouraging! Be sure to read her story on her website, so sweet and loved how she pivoted in her career. She has such great looks that we all could really wear and shares great deals! She has also made me want to wear something different despite a pandemic! @therecruitermom Facebook The Recruiter Mom

Hey, all you beautiful people! Watch the fabulous Riveting Flair with Sandhya Nair YouTube videos! We are so excited that our messy mommies friend Sandhya started her fashion YouTube channel! We love her fashion expertise, styling advice, and passion for helping women look their best. And, Sandhya is doing her videos in two languages - wow! Love how she is helping women around the world! Watch, like, comment and subscribe to Sandhya's channel and follow her on Instagram @fbmom2 Remember to always stay stylish!

Listen to the amazing Jill Devine on Two Kids & a Career podcasts! We first listed to the awesome Two Kids & a Career podcasts about a year ago when the incredible Jill Devine was interviewing the hilarious gals from Mom Truths. We've been super fans of Jill ever since! We love her interviews, passion for supporting women and small businesses, and encouragement for helping us navigate the highs, the lows, and the in betweens. Love Jill's approach to this season's podcasts and check out the sweet desk her hubby built her to support her dreams. Please listen to Jill's encouraging, funny and uplifting podcasts, subscribe, like and follow her on @JillDevineRadio @JillDevineRadio

Listen to the empowering MelisRxSpripts podcasts by my incredible sister, Melissa Corrigan! I just listened to "Never Give Up" with Ashley and Brooke Barlow and loved hearing from these dynamic pharmacy twins! Melissa's podcasts are packed with leadership advice, tools for business success, and gratitude! Listen and you will learn about always staying hopeful, about learning new things, staying curious, and so much more. I love how my sister, Missy weaves in so many leadership lessons and how we can all contribute into each episode. Her passion for mentoring and helping others shines through in each episode! Please listen to Melissa's powerful podcasts and subscribe, like, share, and follow her @MurerCorrigan!

Check out messy kid Eleanora's Bowtique and order cute bows today! We love that Eleanora created her own bow business during the global pandemic! Stella ordered these great bows from Eleanora! Follow Eleanora's Bowtique on Instagram to see the latest styles and patterns! Order from this stylish entrepreneur today via Instagram! Go Eleanora!

Buy these BAGAIL set of 5 Honeycomb Mesh Laundry Bags for your masks! With the kids back in school and the pandemic going on and on and on, we are washing tons of masks. After I snapped the ear elastic on several masks in the washing machine, I ordered these fantastic mess bags on Amazon! They are a great deal and you get five mess bags. The BAGAIL honeycomb mesh bags have made mask washing a little less messy! Order the BAGAIL set of 5 Honeycomb Mesh Laundry Bags today! Such a good deal! (affiliate)

So many questions in 2020. "When there are 9." Wisdom from Ruth Bader Ginsburg for our girls.

9/24/2020

When will there be a girl president? What happened to Breonna Taylor? Who is that girl (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and why are people so sad that she died? Are Illinois' coronavirus numbers going up or down? This year, 2020, is so unimaginable in so many ways and the questions keep coming from my 8 year-old girls, Stella and Sophia. Their short, on-going, on-point questions are deep and I'm trying to find the words to tell the stories, to say the names, to encourage my girls, and to help foster a better world.

I'm sure your kids are asking lots of questions too. We sure don't have all the answers. If you have suggestions on how to answer, have book recommendations, or other tips on how we can help support our kids during these unprecedented times, we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at mom@messymommiesinthecity.com, comment below, or share with us on social media. As you answer so many questions from your kids, know that we are cheering you. We got this together.

xoxo, Meg

4 Powerhouse voices I can't wait to hear from at the 2020 Mom 2.0 Summit!

9/8/2020

One silver lining for me during the coronavirus pandemic is that I'm attending the Mom 2.0 Summit this year! While the event is virtual, I'm super excited to be attending. In the past, September has been a packed month with work travel and I've only been able to follow and engage with the Mom 2.0 Summit on social media. While I'm not quite sure what to expect, I'm greatly looking forward to connecting with other passionate people and learning for the experts. I've already been pouring over the list of speakers and am especially excited about the following powerhouse women!

1. Chris Nee: I am over the moon excited to hear from the incredible Chris Nee, the rockstar creator of Doc McStuffins and Vamparina. My twins, Stella and Sophia are now 8 years old but when they were toddlers we watched every single episode of Doc McStuffins a million times. I knew all the storylines and loved Doc, Lambie, Stuffy, and all their friends. Chris infused kindness, compassion, and health education into every episode. She championed diversity and inclusion and encouraged Disney to embrace all types of families. Her kind, welcoming vision for the world was reflected in every show and I'm grateful my girls were enchanted with Doc McStuffins and her friends. I was happy to watch the shows with my girls and loved the positive impact Chris made on them. She has won a ton of awards, including an Emmy, for the her creativity and health and wellness educational impact of the show. I'm such a super fan that I blogged about Doc McStuffins back in 2016 - Doc is headed to Indy! Four reasons we love Doc McStuffins! 1n 2018, Chris joined the Netflix team and I've continued to follow her powerful career on Twitter. I love how she is using her voice to inspire, educate, and drive change. I cannot wait to hear Chris at the Mom 2.0 Summit! Join me for Chris's session!

2. LaShawn Wiltz: I started following LaShawn Wiltz, creator of Everyday Eyecandy during the Mom 2.0 Summit last year. I was following the social conversation from home and loved her posts. LaShawn has such a positive, calming, and witty perspective. I've appreciated her insights, encouraging attitude, and creativity. She is also very real, like her recent Tweets on how awful virtual school can be for parents and kids. Follow LaShawn and be sure to attend her session at Mom 2.0 Summit!

3. Clarissa Laskey: I also discovered Clarissa Laskey during last year's Mom 2.0 Summit and have been following her ever since the Summit. Follow Clarissa now! She has great advice and tips on travel and parenting. Huge cheers to Clarissa on how she has been able to pivot and adapt to the global coronavirus pandemic with her content. Talk about a challenge - you create content about traveling and suddenly no one can travel. I also love how Clarissa is always encouraging her network to help each other, to share each others content and to support women. Clarissa and LaShawn speak on the Start Your Own Mastermind: How To Level Up panel on Thursday, Sept. 17. See you there!

4. Carrie Colbert: I am new super fan of Carrie Colbert and am excited for her session at the Mom 2.0 Summit! I was checking out the speakers and searched Carrie's Instagram channels, @carriec and @curate.capital and immediately was inspired! I feel like during the pandemic the weeks have been rolling on and the weight of e-learning, staying home, and worrying have dulled my life, especially my wardrobe! One look at Carrie's posts and you'll be inspired to break out the color and embrace this moment, no matter how challenging! We all need to live with more color! I love that Carrie is funding driven females and is celebrating diverse ideas as the founder of Curate Capital. Mark your calendar for Carrie's session: Funding 101: the power to begin at 2:00 pm PT on Thursday, Sept. 17. I'm wearing a bright color on Thursday thanks to Carrie's inspiration and hope you do too! See you at Carrie's session!

An anxious back to school

8/21/2020

Messy mommy Holly and I are having an anxious back to school. While we are glad our kids are going back to their respective Catholic schools, we are nervous about what is ahead. There seems to be no right answers on how to proceed with school this fall and things are continuing to change by the day. We're thinking of all the mommas out there as they try to navigate this crazy time.

Holly and my niece Eleanora came over the other day for lunch and for the girls to play. Holly and I did Facebook Live and Instagram Live on the patio while the girls did a "last to leave" the kiddie pool challenge. We talked about being nervous and how our schools seem to have solid plans in place. We're empathetic for our neighbors and friends that are gearing up for more remote learning and those that are like us, with kids going back in person.

Holly shared that she and Eleanora are doing "8 things before 8th grade" and that Eleanora wanted to watch the sunrise as their first thing. I loved this! Holly and Eleanora had checked the time for the sunrise in Chicago - 6:04 am and got up early. They did a mobile order at Starbucks and after picking up their drinks headed to the lake front. Holly is so smart, she knew many of the Lake Shore Drive lake front accesses are closed due to COVID-19 and headed for Lincoln Park Zoo. As a member, she had parking. Eleanora and she walked to the lakefront and listed to Eleanora's favorite playlist while watching the sun rise over Lake Michigan. Wow, what a great way to kick off "8 things before 8th grade!" I need to work on "3 things before 3rd grade!"

Holly and I also chatted about the socially distanced classroom set-ups and how different some things will be for the kids. Lunch will be in the classrooms and we are looking to make it as positive as can be for the girls. I'm a fan of Crunch Pak Foodles and Crunch Pak snacks and will be popping Foodles and other Crunch Pak snacks into the girls lunch boxes. I think they are cheery, healthy snacks and the girls like the cheeses, apples, pretzels and other snacks. I'm all for cheery lunch items during this crazy time and healthy options are a bonus! Holly shared that Eleanora likes the salads at Trader Joe's and that may be a good option for Eleanora. Everything for her lunch needs to be disposable. So many little details to think about this fall!

We also talked a bit about the kids wearing masks for school. I shared that I saw a great back to school mask tip while watching with the girls a YouTube video from the great This Is How We Bingham family. We love the happy, kind, funny TIHWB YouTube videos! The mom had set up a mask station for back to school. She had a small plastic three drawer chest and put different size masks in the drawers. Above the chest she hung a mesh bag for dirty masks that she could just toss in the washing machine. I loved this idea and need to set up something similar!

Regardless of what format kids are going back to school in, we think some structure will be good and opportunities to interact with their teachers and classmates will be positive. So, for now, we are taking deep breaths, trying to create some special memories, and are prepping for different scenarios. To all the mommas out there working on back to school, we feel you and are cheering you on!

XOXO, Messy Mommy Meg

Upping Our Game for Back to School

7/28/2020

Coronavirus and school in the spring time is a blur to me. I'm thankful Stella, Sophia, and I survived e-learning and the swift upending of school and life as we knew it. Messy Mommy/my sister-in-law, Holly and I have talked about how e-learning, school, and juggling work and life while everyone is having to stay home endlessly. Stella and Sophia's teacher, Mrs. Burt and her paraprofessional, Mrs. Morrissette did an outstanding job of moving quickly to e-learning, constant Zooming to keep the kids connected, and communicating with the parents.

It was still all really hard, as Stella demonstrated in the above picture from this spring. After talking with my friends and seeing so many conversations on social media, and it didn't matter the age of your kids or the school, it was really hard for a lot of people. Some days it felt like a tidal wave. Stella definitely did not want her mom teaching her and plenty of screaming matches ensued. We didn't know how school work would be graded and I was trying to make sure she completed her assignments. While an open concept sounded beautiful when we built our home two years ago, it is a bit of a nightmare for e-learning and parents working from home. I luged school supplies to and from the kitchen table constantly and completed work piled up. Snacks and lunches were also hit or miss and often not healthy as we were trying to plow through school work. I could go on and on about the challenges but you probably have plenty of angst from your own spring e-learning.

Holly is a former grade school principal and I'm a former high school teacher and our hearts are with teachers and administrators as they try to figure out safe options for students. We recognize how hard they worked this spring during an unimaginable time. We know they are trying to find ways to provide a meaningful, safe education for our kids this fall and are grateful for all that they are doing. We want the teachers and administrators to be safe as well.

Holly and I have had endless conversations on what could happen this fall. While our schools have announced that we are going back five days, we know it could change in a moment as the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold. School districts across the nation are changing plans constantly as the pandemic impacts different states.

While we survived this spring, we are determined to up our game for back to school this fall in whatever format school occurs. We want to provide a healthier - mentally and physically - and happier experience for our kids and families. So, get ready! We will be looking for tips, tricks, and hacks to help us all thrive this fall, even during a global pandemic.

First up, we created this check list to talk with our kids about what worked and what did not work in the spring with school and e-learning. Like I said, our schools have said we are going back but we know it could change in a blink. Now is the time to talk with your kids and get their input for the fall. We're looking to Stella, Sophia, and my niece, Eleanora for their thoughts and feelings as we start planning for a better back to school. We hope you will join us and will share your tips and ideas too. Together, we can make back to school better.