September Mixed Bag: Midlife Back To School

Back To School is a whole different vibe in midlife. Gone are the days of scrambling to fill school supply lists, prying kids out of bed and of course the ubiquitous First Day of School picture. Instead college kids leaving, Pumpkin Spice lattes and the annual appearance of mums alert us to its presence.  My own Midlife Back to School is still ruled by the grade school calendar because my husband is an educator. His mental ramp up to the first day of school and the student stories he brings home still put me in the Back To School mood, even though our own kids are mostly done. It’s a time to refresh, reconnect and kick off a new season. I find it energizing and am always ready to bid farewell to summer and welcome fall.

Here’s what my Midlife Back To School looks like in 2025 – Welcome to this month’s Mixed Bag!

Get Organized HQ

Want to hype yourself up for your Midlife Back To School? There is an amazing virtual conference I’d like to personally invite you to. It’s called Get Organized HQ and it’s happening September 8-11. It’s a virtual event with free classes on everything related to organizing and decluttering your life, offered by over 100 speakers.

This event draws over 100K women every year, and I’m thrilled to be on the speaker roster. The conference organizers specifically sought out speakers focused on the unique challenges of midlife (spoiler alert, we are a huge group) and there should be more than enough content to inspire you to action, whatever your current struggles may be. My class is called Exactly How to Organize Your Grown Kids’ Stuff. This topic is near and dear to my heart, and it’s one I get daily questions about on social media.

I also love the timing of this event. If you’ve still got kids around, they are back in school. It’s early in the season, leaving you plenty of runway to take action on what you’ve learned. And it feels so good to be surrounded by a community of women who are going through the same stuff you are. Trifecta!

The Free Pass gets you access to all of the classes in their scheduled time slots (mine is 9/11 8:00am ET.)  But if you’d like lifetime access to watch any of the classes at your own pace, in your own time you can also purchase an All Access Pass for $39. In my opinion that’s an amazing value. Either way – I hope you’ll join me in my first year participating!

Back To School Nesting

My Midlife Back To School affords me a little more time for nesting activities. Nesting is another thing that brings me joy and gets me in the mood for Fall! I target specific areas to declutter (this year it’s my back mudroom shelves.) I switch out my summer throw pillows for their fall counterparts. And most fun of all, I replace my summer glassybaby color story with a new, more muted palette.

For me, nesting is the act of priming my home for the season when I’m inside a lot. It’s about creating a space that can be an escape from work, the weather or anything else in the outside world (the news?!) that makes me feel tired. Nesting is a way to intentionally enjoy the comforts of my home and get out from under the burdens of daily life. 

Will your home wrap you in a warm hug during the fall season? If the answer is no, decluttering could be your secret weapon to flip the script. Decluttering gives you a feeling of control and empowers you to take back the reins from all the clutter that has built up over the years. It’s energizing and can rev you up for the season ahead! If you’d like to declutter but want some structure and support to help guide you through the process, you should check out my Beginner’s Decluttering Blueprint. In any case, I hope you’ll join me in some midlife nesting this month!

Bicentennial Homecoming

Midlife Back To School means making the trip to celebrate your Alma Mater’s bicentennial Home coming game! Yes, I will head back to Lafayette College in Easton, PA to root on the Leopards against Princeton. More importantly, I’m excited to connect with so many of my college friends on the campus that holds so many important memories for me.

As I finalized my plans for the trip and discussed details with my girlfriends on our pledge class group chat, I reflected on something that comes up in my coaching practice over and over again.

Taking the time to connect in person and relive memories with real people who shared my experience is so much more important than keeping a bunch of stuff. Sure it’s annoying that I don’t have any of my old Lafayette sweatshirts or tees. But I can buy a new one now! Yes, it was cool to find my picture in the yearbooks. But it’s cooler to see the people in those photos in real life! And I’m apparently going to tour my sorority house, which will be fun. Much better than saving the dozens of wooden, painted, bubble-lettered artifacts from my sorority years.

Long way of saying – now that I’m in midlife, the experiences take much higher priority than the things. Go ‘Pards!

Let’s hit the Back To School ground running this month – the midlife vibes are strong, folks!