Back to School Stress Saving Tips

Thank you to Great Clips for sponsoring this post and helping me find #moreminutes to enjoy with my kids!

If you’re like most people, back to school shopping is not something you like forward to. Running errands with your kids to stores with big crowds – what’s not to dread? But here are stress saving tips to help you save time and back to enjoying the end of summer with your kids.

Back to School Stress Saving Tips

1. Start early. At the end of the school year, before you switch into summer mode, take note of what you’d like to do differently in the coming year. What items (like clothing labels or a command center) would make things easier for you and your kids? What were you always running out of? What supplies (backpacks, lunchboxes, etc) need to be replaced? To jog your memory, here is one back to school essentials checklist.

2. Keep an eye out for sales. You don’t have to wait for the big back to school sales to find good bargains. Some suppliers have sales mid-year or at the end of the season. Getting great bargains ahead of time will whittle down your to-do list and help you feel like you’re already ahead of the game.

3. Prioritize. If your life is anything like mine, the best laid plans often go awry – a child’s illness, unexpected visitors, a chance to go on a fun outing with your child’s friends, or just the reality of running errands with kids – all mean that things may not work out exactly as you had planned. It’s best to know ahead of time what has to get done before school starts and what can wait if needed.

4. Avoid peak times. If I am out running errands with my kids, the last thing I want to worry about is dealing with crowds. So as much as possible I try to go at times when there are fewer people at the stores – typically during the week and/or early in the day. Many stores run specials at these times to attract more shoppers, so you may even get better deals! But even if you work and can’t go shopping on a weekday, going out in the evening (after the post-work rush) can also be a good time. I’ve often run errands in the evenings after dinner: bonus, my husband is home and so he can watch the kids!

5. Take a breather. Remember to build in some downtime, especially if you feel yourself getting overwhelmed by all the errands you need to run. Don’t miss out on enjoying those last few days of summer with your kids because you’re tearing your hair out worrying about getting ready for the school year. Many things can wait until after school starts, so don’t stress out about being the perfectly organized parent. Your kids would much rather make some more fun summer memories with you than have a stressed out, tense mom.

6. Don’t wait in line. Why waste your time waiting in line when you could get service as soon as you walk in the door? At Great Clips, now you can check in online, so that when you arrive for that back to school haircut, you don’t have to have to waste precious minutes waiting around.

The Great Clips app makes it easy to check in at your nearest salon (of the more than 3,800 throughout the US and Canada), and put your name on the list before you even leave your house, so that you can arrive just in time for your haircut. If you have more than one salon near you – as we do – you can pick which one’s waiting time best matches your schedule.

Little Monkey’s locks were getting rather long, so I decided to take him to Great Clips to experience the online check-in for ourselves.

If you didn’t know about the #MoreMinutes campaign before arriving, you can’t miss the signs!

With my two rambunctious little guys, it was sooo nice to be able to walk right in and get service. Little Monkey normally does not enjoy haircuts, so I was impressed that the stylist was able to put him at ease right away.

I was so proud of him for sitting still during the cut, and I could tell he was happy with it! Just look at my big boy and his confident, post-haircut stride!

Best of all, we had plenty of time to run the rest of our errands then get home and play!

Visit Great Clips online to find out more about their #MoreMinutes campaign and download the time-saving Great Clips app!

Don’t miss this adorable video about what kids say they would do with #moreminutes!