Fifteen Things: A Back to School Survival Guide (and Giveaway!)

The following post is sponsored by The Honest Company who have so many amazing new products my head is spinning.  Go, Honest. 

Earlier this week I wrote about back to school favorites. Today's post is about our household's back-to-school necessities. As in, NEW YEAR, NEW COLDS... NEW HEADLICE OUTBREAK, NEW HEALTHY CHILDREN GOING TO SCHOOL TIME CENTRAL.

1. Wet Wipes (Travel size for backpacks)

The only time we ever used antibacterial gel was when the twins were in the NICU and then afterwards for their first few weeks at home. Other than that, we adhere to the ten second rule up in here and that goes for pretty much everything. That said, I believe in good old fashioned hand-washing and keeping wet-wipes on my person at all times. And in my kids' backpacks. Bo and Revi's cubbies are full of the non-travel size wipe boxes, because potty training is in the works, which brings me to...

2. Swimmer Diapers for Potty Training

I feel like one of you guys recommended that this was the way to go over training pant diapers? (You were totally right. Bo and Revi didn't respect training pant diapers. They treated them just like diaper diapers.) Anyway, these are awesome. Highly recommended for those of you in the process of potty training.

3. Lice Prevention Spray

I have written about our battles with lice in the past and I will likely write about it again because fighting its comeback is a part of our daily lives. Lice it is RAMPANT at our schools and we have dealt with it now three times. And it would have been MORE times if we weren't working preventatively to fight it. I use this spray as well as the shampoo and conditioner. I also comb my kids hair out (with this brush) during shampoos just to make sure.

4. Stain Remover

This is one of my favorite Honest products because it works INCREDIBLY well and lasts forever. My kids wear white to school and my girls draw all over each other's clothes so this my BFF.

5. Hair Detangler 

Now that Fable's hair is as long as mine, this is an every morning lifesaver for us. Fable can spray it in herself before brushes and she "gets to smell like cupcakes" which is awesome. She also gets to comb out those tangles on her own so that I don't have to do hair battles before school. (Sometimes.)

6. Sunscreen (Stick)

I'm pretty lax about sunscreen during the school year but I like to pack the kids sunscreen sticks for super hot days. "Nose and shoulders, please!" I say. (I have no idea if they're actually applying it but I like that they are, or at the very least appreciating that I trust them to apply it themselves.)

7. Bento Boxes

I've been using 78789798 pieces of tupperware in my kids' lunches since always but this year we're all BENTO. BENTO makes lunch-making tolerable I have found. (Kind of. Making four lunches every night before bed is actually my LEAST favorite thing to do as a parent, maybe. But now it's... less awful... ish?)

8. Lunch boxes to put Bento Boxes inside

These might be the cutest lunch boxes ever. I had no idea Honest was making lunch boxes until I sat down to write this post. SO good. 

9. Daily Multivitamin/Immunity Boost and Probiotics 

Bo will eat everything but she is the only one who will. Archer eats very few green veggies (lettuce in his sandwiches, cucumbers and artichoke hearts are it) so vitamins have always been a daily requirement in our home. These are great. And they don't look like candy which I appreciate. (We also have the Kid's immunity boost (Like Wellness formula for kids) and the Baby and Toddler probiotics.

10. Extra Sweater

Even when it's 90 degrees outside I always make sure there's a sweater in a backpack or cubby because sometimes it's freezing indoors and I'm a mom.

"Don't forget to wear a sweater" I say.

"Ugh. Mom I'M NEVER COLD!"

Fine. But I still want them to know that it's there just in case. It's there for you if you need it. Just like me.

Which brings me to...

11. A Token of Love (for those who need one) 

Over the summer, Fable started to get very clingy at camp, so I let her pick out one (or two if it was a REALLY clingy morning) bracelets to take off of my wrist to wear to camp and return to me at pick-up. I also let her wear a few drops of my essential oils perfume on her wrist so she could smell me if she felt sad. (I did this with Revi, too, when the twins started preschool, except Revi lost my bracelet forever. Whoops.)

12. Neti Pot

This one's for the adults. I only recently started using (and swearing by) Neti and I'm here to tell you it's the best. For those of you with sinus issues, here's your guy.

13. Plenty of water

I am militant about hydration. It's dry as a bone here in Los Angeles and sometimes they forget to drink water. Large (stainless steel, if possible) water bottles are a MUST in all backpacks at all times.

14. Change of clothes JUST IN CASE.

Not just for accidents but bad spills, torn seams... you never know, right? A change of clothes shoved in the bottom of their backpacks won't hurt. And, perhaps, in the future it might even help.

15. Love Notes 

This one might be the most important of all. My mom used to hide love notes in my lunchbox and backpack and even though I was, like, "MOM YOU'RE EMBARRASSING ME, UGH" sometimes they were just what I needed. Not everyday, mind you, but once every couple of weeks, finding a note from my mom, even if it just said a simple "I love you," kind of meant everything. And so. I am passing it on.

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Honest is giving away FOUR Back to School Survival Kits valued at $145 each. Kit includes:

- Lunch Box 
- Travel wipes
- Swim Diapers
- Honest Stain Remover
- Honest Conditioning Detangler 
- Honest Sunscreen Stick
- Honest Multivitamin 
- Honest Immunity Boost
- Baby/Toddler Multi Powder

To win? Tell me some of your back-to-school survival items? I'll pick all four winners at random next Monday, August 25th. Good luck and Happy Back to School! 

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$10 off $40 minimum purchase using the code GGCBack2School (valid for US and Canadian residents; first-time orders only; one per customer). This coupon expires August ​3​1st, 2014.​

UPDATED: Congrats to NotsoCrafty Kristi, Michelle, Allison and Rebecca! Honest will have contacted you by now to claim your prize! And thanks to all for participating! 

GGC