It’s that time of the year again, the undeniable back-to-school feeling is in the air and you may already hear the first-day-of-school bell ringing in your head. Many of us are already starting to think about the lunch boxes we will need to pack for our school-age children. It can be hard when the lazy days of summer give way to the mad rush of getting everyone out the door on time with a nourishing breakfast in their belly and a healthy lunch in their backpack. Adding to the pressure, there are end-of-day challenges of having dinner on the table when your family returns home and convenes for your evening meal. 

Here are some of my top tips to help you transition from summer holidays to school season in the kitchen.

A well-equipped diaper bag can be the difference between a pleasant outing and a potentially disastrous one. As a general rule of thumb – it is best to be over prepared. You can never predict what is going to happen or how equipped the space is that you find yourself in. Trying to remember everything can be challenging. You often find gaps in your packing at the most inopportune time (when things have gone sideways). To help in this process, here is a list of “must haves” and some “nice haves” compiled by experienced moms who have learned from a few disastrous experiences of their own! This list will vary according to weather as well as the age of your child.

Watching your little one progress from crawling to walking is a milestone to be celebrated.  The world suddenly opens up and within it are a plethora of things to grab, climb on and stick in your mouth!  Toddlers are naturally curious, adventurous and depending on their age, can be a little bit sneaky.  In other words, this is not the time to let up on childproofing your home!  The older children get the higher they can climb to reach the things they want to get their hands on.

You should never place anything inside your child’s ear unless instructed by your child’s doctor. However, it is ok to place a warm, or cold – depending on your child’s preference, compress overtop of the ear. Here are instructions on how to use a warm onion as a drawing agent to help draw the infection out of the ear. Sounds crazy but it works!