It's back to school time 🎒

Hey there, {{first_name | friend}},

It's baaaaack… to school time. For families with school-aged kids, the new year is fast approaching, and with it comes the calendars, the supply lists, and the daily "what's for lunch" negotiation. 

Every year I tell myself I'll be ready early, but it doesn’t actually matter, because AI is doing the heavy lifting for me anyway. This edition is my back-to-school game plan, built to get your calendar synced, your shopping done, and your lunch questions answered before day one.

And don’t miss out early bird registration for the Your Best Self, Empowered by AI workshop. 50-minutes focused on what you want for the fall too.

Back to school for your family also means it's time to reset your own routine. Carla Greenan, founder of 3Be Coaching, and I are bringing our "Your Best Self, Empowered By AI" workshop to our communities for the first time.

Every attendee gets access to Carla's Wheel of Harmony tool and a mini prompt library from me, with my best prompts for each of the 8 dimensions of the wheel. Spots are limited, so we can make room for real discussion.

Early bird registration ends tonight, which means this is your last chance to save $10 off the $49 registration price.

First up: If connecting your Google calendar to AI fits within your family’s tech boundaries, you’ll need to do that before using this prompt. You can connect your calendar using ChatGPT, Claude, our AI assistant, Em, or use Gemini directly.

Next step: Grab your school or district calendar for the year. PDFs are easy for AI to read but copy/pasting the calendar can work too.

Then use the prompt: Act as a family scheduling assistant. Analyze the attached school calendar PDF, filter for only student-impacting dates (holidays, early releases, start/end dates), and use my @Google Calendar to directly add each event. Exclude any staff-only days or teacher in-service days. Before adding, confirm the list of dates with me. 

Mom Tip: Em users, you probably already know Em can put the school calendar on your Google calendar automatically. Just text the calendar PDF link to Em, confirm, and you're done.

Act as a savvy family shopping assistant. Search for current sales, discount codes, and deals on back-to-school clothes and school supplies based on the items I list below [INSERT SHOPPING OR WISH LIST ITEMS]. Format the output as a table with the item, store, price, and any active discount code.

Mom Tip: Give it specifics. Sizes, brands you already love, and a real budget number get you far better results than a general request. I found a Stanley student discount and an Owala email sign-up discount using this prompt.

Act as a helpful family assistant. Ask me one question at a time about my kid's lunch preferences, including favorite foods, foods to avoid, lunchbox style, whether they have access to a microwave or refrigerator at school, and any allergies or restrictions. Once you have my answers, format the output as a printable visual reference sheet I can hang on the fridge for quick lunch packing.

Mom Tip: Do this one with your kid sitting next to you if you’re up for it. They can share their favorites and you can look together for any misses as an AI literacy moment. Here’s what Gemini made for my family vs. ChatGPT with the same prompt. Which do you prefer?

Back to school means a fresh wave of practice schedules and theme days threatening to slip through the calendar cracks. This week I talked with Katie Blouin, CEO of Larken and founder of KLB Advisory, about the AI chief of staff she built for her own household. It reads school emails, tracks the calendar, and makes sure her kids never miss crazy hat day again. If you are staring down a new school year and already feel behind, this episode might give you a system worth borrowing.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, or wherever you prefer your podcasts.

What’s on your back-to-school to do list? Share and we’ll brainstorm how AI can help!

Until next time,

Sarah

P.S. For this newsletter: I wrote the outline > Claude wrote the first draft > I test all the prompts, tweak, and finalize.

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