Let's face it, school mornings can be a stressful time for everyone, but with a little preparation, they don't have to be. I'll be the first to admit, our school mornings aren't 100% bliss all the time, but with a few tips I'll share today, they can certainly go a bit smoother :)

First things first.....preparation the night before is key! If there is one thing I've learned it is get organized the night before. When at all possible, I get my boys involved in making their lunches. The night before, we'll head into the kitchen and pack lunches together. The boys go into the lunch cabinet and pick out their favorite snacks and drink while I make the sandwiches. Bags folded over, names written, placed into the fridge and done!

Once lunches are made we head into the bedroom to pick out clothes. What a time saver this is. For some reason if we don't pick out clothes the night before, we get so behind in the mornings. Never fails that someone is either missing a sock or can't find a shirt, so this is a must for us.

Next, we get our backpacks out and placed right by the front door (we have learned the hard way here...I've made many trips back to the school to take backpacks we've forgotten)

We typically wake up about an hour and a half before school, enjoy a quick breakfast of cereal and fruit and the boys usually even have time to play before heading out to school.

These simple yet completely effective tips have made our mornings run much smoother than they used to.

Best of luck to all the kiddos starting back at school and to the parents getting back into the swing of things :)

All over the country kids are going back to school and parents are making plans for sticking to a healthy routine. As summer comes to an end it is hard to give up our long lazy days, but lucky for you, Smithfield's bloggers will be here all week giving you tips on everything back to school related. You'll find a few great ideas for sack lunches and their tried-and-true advice for getting back into the swing of things. Trust me, these are definitely smart ladies! Picky Palate will be starting off the week so be sure to check back tomorrow.