Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post written in conjunction with Nature’s Bounty^® and a campaign with Sverve. Regardless, all opinions expressed are still 100% my own.

August signals the start of the back to school craze season. From school supply shopping to preparing backpacks for the first day of class and hash tagging away, adults and children alike are part of this not so exclusive club that evolves and trends annually. Come on, how many times have you seen #BTS on Facebook and Twitter? About a million! The smell of sharpened pencils, brown paper bags for lunches, and school bus diesel … life is good!

Now, I have to share that I am a complete newbie. Last year we tested the waters by sending our little one to Pre-K “school”; but 2.5 hours a day, 4 days a week doesn’t really count, does it? I spent most of those 2.5 hours in the car driving back and forth but my little one got the chance to socialize and that was our goal. This year, completely different scenario, we have a Kindergartener in the house! I’ve been counting down the days with dread since she graduated Pre-K and she spent most of the summer talking about riding the bus (for the first time), making new friends, and going to school all day. I think it is fair to say that our levels of excitement vary a great deal.

t first the “countdown” consisted of months, which wasn’t horrible. Then we hit the thirty day mark and I started to get a little nervous about our time dwindling. Weeks made me sad … at one week I started to panic a bit, and by the night before school, I was a wreck. My little one on the other hand, all smiles the whole time. For weeks, everyone and their uncle gave me advice on how to handle the first day of school. “Be brave,” they said. “Remember to wait until the bus is out of sight before you cry.” Then there was this, “You are making a big fuss over nothing, this will be great!” I absolutely cried the night before Kindergarten and woke up with puffy eyes; I am not ashamed to admit it.

Then it was here, the big day. We made sure her outfit and hair were perfect, packed her lunch, took a million pictures, and then walked to the bus stop. I gave her hugs, kisses on her little cheeks, and smiled like a rock star. I am pleased to share that I made it through the morning routine like a champ, got her on the bus, and made it home before I completely lost it. I cried like a baby, some may say I went a bit overboard, I would say I cried like a mommy with a little girl going to school for the first time.

I was a basket case and moped around the house. I decided that I should bake cookies to celebrate her return first day of school and then I baked a second batch because I made my way through most of the first one while I cried. I called members of the family and shared my grief, it was like I had lost my best friend, so I cried some more. My mom was the perfect supporter and sobbed along with me. She just kept saying, “I know baby, I know.” I cleaned the kitchen, I paced, I started a load of laundry, and then I looked at the clock. It was only 10:30. If I didn’t get my act together it was going to be a really long day and the only thing I was truly going to accomplish was achieving the puffiest eyes I’ve ever had. I had to figure something out I decided to dust our family room. That is when it hit me, I needed something to help calm me down, and I needed something to bring me back to some semblance of balance. It was time to diffuse some essential oils. More specifically, it was time for some Eucalyptus from the Nature’s Bounty® Earthly Elements™ collection.

Eucalyptus is a versatile essential oil with both cooling and heating properties. In warm weather it cools and in cool weather it heats. Eucalyptus is used for cooling, calming, and balancing. The cool part about it is that it can be used in the bath, vaporizer, or diffuser. It can also be added to a base oil and used during a massage. A massage would have been perfect but I don’t keep a masseuse on the payroll. Since I needed to get my mind back on track, in order to get some work done, I choose the diffuser; this was a no brainer since we have a diffuser in our family room. I filled the diffuser, added 8 drops, sat down on the couch, and closed my eyes. Within a matter of minutes the room was bathed in Eucalyptus. The best way to describe the scent would be for me to liken it to a popular vapor rub that is on the market. I have always found this product cooling and calming so I held on to the hope that the essential oils would do the same for me.

It took some time but I was able to calm down, breathe a little easier, and accomplish some of my “must do” tasks before my little one arrived at home from her big day. I went from being a basket case to a somewhat productive member of society that didn’t feel as though the sky was falling. Yes, I knew that she was coming home at the end of the day but the start of a school year is just as tough on us parents as it is on kids. Thankfully, I have a new friend, Nature’s Bounty® Earthly Elements™ Eucalyptus and my friendly diffuser to help me through the next week or so until I adjust to snuggle time with my little one, to a house full of giggles and smiles, and having a little wing woman 24 hours a day. And there are the tears … I think it is time for a little more diffusing.

Good luck parents. Remember, we are all in this together and it will get easier… probably, maybe, definitely, I hope … with the assistance of Earthly Elements™.

About Nature’s Bounty® Earthly Elements™

Nature’s Bounty brings balance to busy lives with Earthly Elements, 100% pure aromatherapy essential oils, now available at Walmart stores nationwide.

Earthly Elements essential oils are available in a wide variety to give you a fragrance for just about every mood and situation.

To learn more about Nature’s Bounty Earthly Elements check out their website at www.EarthlyElements.com.

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