3 Quick End of School Year Tips Every Parent Needs

As I’m doing the ‘end of school year’ dance, I figured now was a perfect time to share a few of my End of School Year Tips that make my life a bunch easier. I call them my ‘thanks past Joules’ tips… because once September hits and the kiddo goes back to school, I’m sending my past self all the hugs and kisses.

Tip 1: Wash the Backpack and Lunchbox

Very, very, very important. Grab your kids backpack and the lunchbox that they’ve used all year, empty them out completely and then throw them in the laundry with a few towels. I don’t know why, but the backpack just picks up a funky, stinky school smell, so the sooner you get that cleaned the less time you spend with it fermenting in your house. As for the lunchbox, even if there is a plastic interior, if the outside is any sort of canvas you can throw it in the laundry.

Once they go through a normal washing load, just let them air dry and they’re ready to go for next year!

Tip 2: Wash the PE clothes

This could almost be a subsection of the first tip, but I’m sure I’m not the only parent who has found old, stinky PE clothes shoved into a bag at the bottom of the kids backpack. Even if they didn’t wear them ONCE during the year (so glad I paid for them…) they still get that school funk. Throw them in the wash ASAP and save yourself the retching of finding them after 2 more months.

Tip 3: Do a School Supplies Review/Purge

My kid brought home two backpacks full of school supplies and crap that was in his locker. Put it all in a pile on the table. Then, have your kid go through everything and separate it into trash and keep piles. Then, you go through it and re-separate it into trash and keep piles.

I’m typically able to reclaim at least a few binders that are in good shape, some folders, scissors, pencil sharpeners, and an assortment of pens, pencils and markers. Those go into the ‘use next year’ pile that gets put away in the closet until August. Then, the stuff that is okay but not trash, gets absorbed into the house stuff (like mostly used post it notes and notebooks that still have a little life left in them). Anything broken, empty or gross goes into the trashcan or recycle bin.

BONUS POINT OPTION: As you’re sorting through the school supplies, make a list of items that can’t be reused for school next year. Keep this list in your phone. Over the summer as you are out and about and see things on sale, buy the things on your list. Or, if you’re an Amazon shopper, stick each item on a ‘wish list’ and then check to see if any pricing dropped for the Amazon Prime Day sales — this year’s sales run from July 8 – 11th (here’s a post about how I use their sales to my advantage here).

Happy Summer!

Family Adventure: Alpaca Yoga

I’ve done yoga in a studio. I’ve done yoga in a greenhouse. I’ve done yoga while following along with a Peloton instructor while Ollie tries to tackle me. But this weekend… I did yoga with alpacas.

Yes. Alpacas.

And it was fun. And a little stinky.

I signed Travis, Jack and me up for a yoga class at Black Barn Alpacas, which is exactly what it sounds like… yoga surrounded by fluffy alpacas. Typically, the class is offered outside in their fields; however, since it was a rainy day, our class was held in a large indoor alpaca barn.

Before class started, we had some time to mingle with the herd and get over the initial ‘why does it look like every middle school boy’ feeling.

Then, we rolled out our yoga mats and a nice instructor put a little pile of alpaca food at the end of each mat to encourage them to chill with our group.

Spoiler alert: They were NOT interested in us.

Instead, we enjoyed an hour-long yoga class and the group of alpacas that they let out of their pens just kind of swarmed around and moved from side to side of the barn. It was a weird mix of relaxing into stretches and hilarious when you’d accidentally make eye contact with an alpaca.

Fun fact: it’s a little hard to do deep breathing through your nose and out your mouth when it smells like alpaca poo. Just saying.

Anyways, Jack lost interest about halfway through the class, so he went and played with the alpacas. Which was SO MUCH better than having to listen to “is it almost over yet” a million times while trying to hold yoga poses. 5 out of 5 stars… highly recommend!

After the class, they handed out little cups of alpaca feed and let us go wild hanging out with the alpacas. We were allowed to go in any of the pens, feed them, pet them, and laugh at their silliness.

Family Verdict: WE LOVED IT! It was a fantastic, slightly ridiculous way to spend a Saturday afternoon and I highly recommend trying it out!

The Absolute Easiest Way to Adjust an Elastic Waistband (NO Sewing Required!)

You know I love a good thrifted find. However occasionally when I find something I love, it needs a little adjustment to fit my body. In this case, I thrifted a beautiful vintage skirt in Arizona, but the elastic waistband was a bit too roomy.

But here’s the thing: I didn’t want to permanently alter the skirt. I wanted it to fit me now, but also be forgiving if I fluctuate a little in size. Whether it’s weight loss, gain, or just that time of the month, sometimes your waist size needs a little flexibility.

And I know some of you are a little intimidated about the idea of getting out a sewing machine. So here is the ABSOLUTE easiest way to adjust an elastic waistband with NO SEWING.

Easy AND fast. It literally took me longer to write this blog post then it did for me to check this task off my list.

What You’ll Need

My skirt had elastic sewn into the top with two lines of stitching going through it. I just took my scissors and made two little cuts where I wanted to drawstring to poke out. You can do this on the outside (where the drawstring and bow will be seen) or on the inside (where only you will know its there). I choose the inside.

Then, I grabbed the drawstring threader and stuck my drawstring through one of the holes.

Poke the other end of the threader through the channel in the middle and thread it all the way around the skirt, pulling the drawstring through as you go.

Once you get to the end, detach your drawstring from the threader and THAT’S IT!

Now, I can tie my skirt a little tighter so that it fits my body every single time I wear it. I can tighten the waistband when I need to, loosen it when I don’t, and it won’t change the structure of the skirt. It’s completely reversible and super comfortable.

I love easy hacks like this, especially when they give new life to a piece of clothing I thrifted or already owned. No need to pass on a too-big skirt just because the waistband is loose and no need to stress about the fit fluctuating!

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