DISCLOSURE: I am a member of the Outshine summer campaign and am helping spread the word about Outshine® Fruit Bars and how to celebrate summer (when it’s over). As a team member and work from home mom, I receive product and incentives in exchange for participating in brand-related activities and compensation. #SnackBrighter
School has started. Summer is over. Will you judge me if I weep for a bit? Or, how about a full on temper tantrum? No. NO! I refuse to accept that the hot days of lazy excuses are gone! I will continue to celebrate summer! You can’t stop me! Don’t try to stop me.
Back when I was a kid, summer lasted about three months. (You too?) THREE WHOLE MONTHS. I could get into a real sassy debate here about how angry I was when I found out that our fabulous schools (which I’m in love with, seriously) were revving up again mid-August. Mid-August?!?! But we only had about ten weeks off!?!?! We need more time!!!
I mean, the first day of Kindergarten was special and all… but please: It could’ve waited another two weeks. We only went to our favorite outdoor restaurant once. We didn’t even get to visit our friends’ brand new pool. We only got to the beach two times.
Bring back summer!!! We’re not done yet! (This is not a joke. I’m frustrated.)
But, I figure: If I can’t change the school calendars, I can certainly hang on to our vacation-inspired activities at home for as long as the beautiful Southern California heat lasts… right?
I will wake everyone up in the morning (as my obligations as ‘mom’ demand), take my girls to school (as the law demands), pick them up afterwards and then pick up right where we left off before all of this school-nonsense regenerated again. We will pretend with delusion that we’ve got months of vacation time ahead of us. (Despite that everyone must hit the sack by 8pm or else…)
We will wear our bathing suits in our backyard after school.
We will kick off our shoes in an effort to ‘tickle our toes’ in the grass before dinner.
We will bust open that freezer drawer and snag as many Outshine Fruit Bars as we like because they’re loaded with real fruit or fruit juice as the first ingredient.
Outshine has made improvements to eight of its most popular Fruit Bar flavors by adding an average of 77% more real fruit or fruit juice and reducing sugar by an average of 11% (talk about snacking brighter), so I’m totally cool with it. (You KNOW I’m cool with it…)
We will continue to explore our community around us and (hopefully) expand our experiences beyond our usual school-time routine…
Maybe that’s what’s ticking me off the most — we didn’t have enough time to go beyond our usual routines. Going beyond your usual activities, contributing to your community, giving back in some way… every little effort adds up to learning how to shine brighter from the inside out. Nourishment for the soul goes beyond what we put in our mouths and it’s my responsibility to teach my daughters that one way or another.
So that’s why I’m squeezing the heck out of summer.
This year, Outshine is giving kids a fruit first, refreshing summertime snack by donating Fruit Bars to Boys & Girls Clubs locations in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Oakland. In fact, Outshine donated 3,024 Fruit Bars to local Boys & Girls Clubs, including Long Beach, Venice, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, Burbank, Greater East Valley, Hollywood, Nickerson Gardens, Pasadena and West Valley. (Cool, right?) In addition to supporting communities at the local level, Outshine is committed to donating 1 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to Feeding America to ensure that families across the country have access to fresh produce.
Snack brighter. Shine brighter. Don’t let summer get away without a fight. We’re not.
