I looked down at my to-do’s this week and had written a note to myself under July 15th: “Order Hill’s backpack”! I guess I had wanted to remind myself that sometimes it can take time to have them monogrammed, or you find out something is back-ordered, etc. It also made me realize that it’s not a bad idea to begin to order all of their supplies and to generally begin to plan. Having acclimated mini to three different schools (!) and my son will soon be matriculating to his second school, I have found a few things to be helpful:
- I put a calendar in my children’s rooms and circle the first day of school. Every night before bed, they put an “x” through today’s date and we talk generally about how far we are out from school, and also use it as an opportunity to talk about other upcoming events, trips, etc. This Snoopy one is excellent because it comes with a slip of helpful stickers my children love assigning to the correct days.
- We read books about going to school. I especially like this Amelia Bedelia because it makes the point that first days can be hard on anyone — teachers, too! This What to Expect book was great when mini and micro were first starting school. Both of them asked for it a lot when they were younger. And then of course there’s The Kissing Hand, which makes me weepy-happy — a reminder that you are always carrying your parents’ love with you, no matter where you go.
- I try to make the first day of school extra festive. Last year, I had Mr. Magpie blow up these enormous school bus balloons, gave them pancakes with sprinkles inside, and had them wear new school pajamas the night before. These or these would be cute for this year.
- The week before school starts, we start inching wake-up time back and attempt to do a few “dry runs” to make sure we are able to get ready by the time we need to leave. This is always kind of a brutal awakening after the looser/later mornings of summer.
- This year, I think I will put up a family calendar somewhere visible to everyone that outlines the week’s activities, extra-school curriculars, etc. I also think this will be helpful in setting expectations and routines.
- Lunchbox notes! My daughter loves having a little love note from me in the middle of the day.
- Order the first day / last day pennant soon (seen above)! It takes a bit to ship because they customize colors to your preference. If you plan on having more than one kid, you might choose something gender-neutral!
01. CECIL AND LOU SHORTS SET // 02. PERSONALIZED WATERPROOF STICKERS // 03. STATE BAGS SPACE BACKPACK // 04. NEW BALANCE SNEAKERS // 05. RL OXFORD // 06. OSO AND ME SHORTS // 07. WHAT TO EXPECT IN PRESCHOOL // 08. LUNCHBOX NOTES // 09. MINNOW STRIPED KNIT // 10. OSO AND ME PANTS // 11. FREEZABLE SNACK POUCH // 12. LILA HAYES APPLE PAJAMAS // 13. PERSONALIZED PENCIL CASE // 14. DINOSAUR ICE PACKS // 15. RUGBY SHIRT // 16. LUNCHBOX // 17. SOCKS SET // 18. EXCAVATOR BAG TAG
01. TBBC DRESS // 02. HAIR BOW SET // 03. CHERRY NOTEBOOK // 04. CIENTAS // 05. AMELIA BEDELIA’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL // 06. FIRST DAY / LAST DAY FLAG // 07. STATE BAGS STRAWBERRY BACKPACK // 08. LA COQUETA DRESS // 09. THE KISSING HAND // 10. FREEZABLE SNACK POUCH // 11. LILA HAYES APPLE PAJAMAS // 12. PENGUIN ICE PACKS // 13. TINY TUPPERWARE (GREAT FOR SNACK FINGER FOODS — CUT FRUIT, CRACKERS, CEREAL) // 14. TRVL DESIGN BACKPACK // 15. RUFFLE SOCKS // 16. FLUF INSULATED LUNCH BAG // 17. PERSONALIZED WATERPROOF STICKERS
Shop the Back to School Edit.
P.S. Comforting words, if you — like me — find transitions emotionally-straining as a mother: “We carry all of the ages of our children with us. They are not gone: they are inside. I need only throw a rope down to pull up the treasure.” Full essay here.
P.P.S. On the notion of parenting as a process.
P.P.P.S. Great books for early readers and our favorite bedtime stories. I also added most of the back to school picks available at Amazon to my storefront.
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How is it nearly August?? I feel like summer JUST started!!
I’m with you on all these back-to-school strategies, although we’ve never done #3…how adorable to have school bus balloons! My daughter also loves her calendar, and we have something similar that came with stickers for things like doctors appointments, birthday parties, etc.
I also just ordered name stamps for clothes — it hasn’t arrived yet, but it’s supposed to withstand at least 50 washings or something like that. I hope it eliminates the need to label clothing items with a Sharpie (especially since we cut tags off, as they bother her) or those iron-on labels as I honestly really detest ironing.
Hi! Thanks for mentioning this — which brand did you use? I’ve seen these advertised to me on instagram but have always been skeptical…please share! I need one!
xx
I ordered from The Name Stamp! I haven’t received it, but I’ll report back when I try it out.
Thank you!
This will be our 3rd or 4th year marking back to school by going out to breakfast on the morning before school starts. It’s a fun tradition that I hope we’ll still be doing when my kids are in high school! We use it as a bit of a dry run for the following morning.
Oo I love this idea! Thank you!
Erica, I love this tradition! I think I’ll borrow this one, especially since getting up/getting ready on school mornings have been a struggle for us. I do hope you keep it going until they are in high school, too — they’ll make for such fun memories!
Agree – such a sweet tradition!