1 Play with your brain
This summer I bought a game of Solitaire Chess for my kiddos to keep them entertained and challenged. It turned out to be just as entertaining and challenging for my husband and me. Not being a chess player, at all, I quickly picked up the moves and learned the basics with the beginner cards, while my boys rocked the game with more advanced cards.
Simply select a challenge card and slide it under the clear board. Then place the chess pieces on top of the coordinating pictures on the board. Using the moves allowed in traditional chess, capture each piece on the board until there is only one piece remaining. Each move must capture a piece. This would be great when you want your kids to give their phones a rest.
$19.99, Marbles the Brain Store, marblesthebrainstore.com
2 Play with your beauty
As busy moms, we can easily get stuck in the same old skin care/anti-aging beauty routine rut. I recently discovered a major multi-tasker called NeriumAD that’s nature-based and fights everything from fine lines and wrinkles to discoloration and enlarged pores with both a day and nighttime formula. It’s also fab for hands, neck, decolletage, arms, and even elbows and knees. You only need a little each day, making the price a little easier to swallow. You’re worth it.
$110 for the NeriumAD Age-Defying Treatment, $165 for the NeriumAD Night& Day Combo Pack, mynerium.com
3 Play with your family
All the fun doesn’t have to end just because school is back in session. Autumn is a wonderful time to get outside and enjoy the last of the beautiful days. Light up those early autumn nights and blow your kids’ minds by installing one of these Night Riderz ziplines in your backyard. This bright new zipline lights up the seat with rotating LED lights. The Night Riderz kit includes detailed instructions on where and how to set up a zipline and a 100-foot steel cable, fully assembled trolley, LED seat and rope (with more than 50 LED lights total), and hardware. You’ll want to ride this thing as much as your kids.
Recommended for kids 8 and up. $199.99, slackersline.com
4 Play with your style
Back-to-school shoes are a staple on most parents’ “to-get” list. But our kids aren’t the only ones who could use a new pair of kickers for all that school day running around. I was recently sent a pair of Dr. Scholl’s shoes to test out. Although I was a wee bit skeptical about how stylish they’d actually be, I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only is the new Dr. Scholl’s line amazingly comfortable and able to stay that way for miles and miles of walking, they now come in all sorts of fun designs and styles as well.
I promise, you’ll be pleasantly surprised as well.
Justify Oxford in blue, $69.99, and Maylee sneaker in red yarn dye dot, $64.95, drschollsshoes.com
