Category: Being a Mom

On Monday, my Kate went back to school. This time, she’s a first grader.

Her first couple of days went really well overall. However, as with any transition, there have been a few bumps in the road, so when Target asked us to write about things we missed but will remember for next year, I was all over it. Had they asked us to write about what brilliant tips we had for making back-to-school season seamless or how to keep homemade bread fresh in a BPA-free hand-knit lunchbox, Jenny and I would have had a good laugh and then told them they’d better go find themselves some other bloggers. But screw ups? We’re your people.

*ahem*

Without further ado, I bring you my list of things I will try to remember next year.

1) Regardless of when our school year starts, I will go shopping early. Like I said, Kate started school this Monday, which was a solid week (or two) behind most of the districts in our area. I thought I was relatively ahead of the game by taking her to Target for school supplies 10 days or so before she went back (it was NOT the night before, I swear!), but I failed to take into account that all the other prepared moms kids had already done their school shopping, and by the time we got there, the school supply aisle looked like a war zone. We still found everything we needed, but the selection wasn’t what it would have been had I been a little more on the ball.

2) I will have a camera on hand for the obligatory huge-backpack-on-a-little-kid first-day-of-school picture. Our camera died while we were on vacation, and I’ve yet to replace it. Fortunately my sister took one for the team and got up early to be our photographer, but it still meant that I took crap pictures with my cell phone once we were actually in the building. However, I would like to point out that I at least remembered to take the pictures, unlike a certain co-blogger/cousin of mine who shall remain nameless.

3) I will buy bread. Kindergarten is half-day in our district (which is really super handy for working parents, but that is a story for another day), so last year she ate lunch after school at her sitter’s house, which required no effort on my part. This year, however, she is there from 9-3:15 and for whatever reason won’t agree to just wait til she gets home to eat, so I have to deal with school lunches. I thought I was all ready to go – she had a new monogrammed Lands End lunchbox and matching thermos (am I good or am I good? Oh wait, Grandma ordered those for her) but when I got ready to actually pack her lunch, I discovered I had no bread. Awesome. So I had to convince her that buying her lunch on the first day would be super exciting. Miraculously (because we never, ever have cash) I was able to scrape together $2.50 to put in her backpack. And while I’m on the subject – $2.50? Seriously? When I was in first grade, lunch cost 90 cents and if you were cool and had a dollar, you could get a cookie with the remaining dime. (I ranted about that to my dad last night, who said that when he was in school, lunch cost 2 cents. I don’t really believe that, because really unless they were serving tree bark with a side of rain water, what good would 2 cents do? You know, the whole “up hill both ways” routine.)

4) Finally, I will realize that the “I walk home!” badge is meant for her locker, not to be used as a name tag. See photo above. That thing I taped on Kate’s chest? Definitely not a name tag. Of course, I didn’t realize that until we got to school and to my horror none of the other kids had their mode of transportation brandished on their person. I slyly ripped it off and I don’t think she noticed, but I’m sure her teacher did. I am all about making good first impressions.

This is totally the story of Kate’s life – she is the guinea pig in our grand parenting experiment. Hopefully we will have these things down by the time Sam is in first grade. But who am I kidding? I’m sure I’ll screw up plenty of things for him as well.

So let’s hear it – what did you miss in the back-to-school craze this year?

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This post was sponsored by Target, but the idiocies described are completely my own.

This weekend Bobby and the kids and I went to Indianapolis for our nephew James’ 3rd birthday.  It was really fun spending the day with Bobby’s sister and her husband and James as well as his little brother Joel, who is 8 months old.  Before we left my brother-in-law Dave started pulling some boxes of baby clothes out for us, which I was excited about because I’d long ago given most of Joshua’s clothes away…to them, when James was born.  Still, I didn’t expect to find much of Joshua’s wardrobe in the boxes.  I mean, said clothes are now over six years old and have been worn by THREE boys!

But the first thing I saw when I opened the first box was a blue terry-cloth Carter’s sleeper I immediately recognized as Joshua’s.  And then another, and another – three right on top!  I am kind of a “Carter’s snob” – I love to have my babies pretty much cloaked in nothing but their first year.  And those terry-cloth and fleece sleepers are the best for all my cold-weather-born kiddos.

I cooed and oohed over them – I couldn’t believe it!  They brought back such memories of my first baby boy.  He was such a sweet, sweet baby.

And now I’ll have another sweet baby boy, and he’ll get to wear some of the same cozy, fuzzy things his big brother wore.  Things I thought I’d never see again.  Of course he’ll have some new things of his own, and clothes handed down from friends worn by other sweet baby boys, but I’m glad he’ll have some items from his big brother, too.  I can’t wait to see him in them!

Photo by striatic on flickr

Recently (as in before July 4th was even said & done) when strolling through the stores, I was *shocked* to see that “Back-to-School” stuff was already heavily displayed. “Back to SCHOOL? It’s barely July!” I grumbled. But then I thought about it, and I think it’s just that the marketers and buyers for the retail outlets are just like me – anxious to get their school-aged child OUT of their personal space and back into the classroom where he or she belongs! Right??

So I decided I’m getting ready for back-to-school!  Sophie’s going to be starting preschool, so for the first time she’ll need a school wardrobe, so I’ve got to get her some cute things!  I’ve already purchased just about all the school uniforms Joshua will need for the year. SCORE!  Here’s what else is on my back-to-school checklist!

1) Check the handbook – if your student is wearing uniforms or goes to a school with a dress code for the FIRST time this year, read the fine print in the school’s handbook or uniform guidelines.  I *thought* I had Joshua all set last year, then at the last minute I had bought him some cargo pants which were not allowed.  I could have saved myself some grief if only I’d been more attentive. D’oh!

2) Check the sale flyers (and your favorite coupon blogs!!) for deals on school supplies.   If you start now, you can break your supply shopping up into smaller trips by what’s on sale each week, rather than going two days before school starts and blowing Jr.’s college fund on glue sticks and 3-ring binders because you gotta have it NOW and will pay ANYTHING.

3) Get the kids back on schedule a couple weeks ahead of time.  Sophie is going to have to be getting up for school for the first time EVER and I expect it to be plenty painful for both of us!  I’m going to start getting the kids to bed earlier about two weeks ahead of time and I’ll probably *gulp* wake her up a couple of days the last week.  I am going to have to get my rear up and ready to take her to preschool also, so I need to get myself on a schedule as well! Yikes!!

4) Don’t forget that something special – back to school can be a hard adjustment for some kiddos so try to work something in your back-to-school shopping budget that is a little bit *special*.  For instance, Joshua has been pining for a Super Mario Bros. lunch box for MONTHS and it’s my goal to get him one to take the sting out of not being able to sit around and actually play Super Mario Bros. all day (not that I let him do that…).  {Score! I just saw in the Target ad yesterday that they have the coveted lunch box for $6! I am THERE!) And since the Soph will be leaving mommy’s side for the first time, I am going to let her pick out a super-cute backpack or first-day-of-school dress to ease that pain.

So, that’s my back-to-school checklist.  I’m sure I’m leaving out something important, so tell me, what’s on your checklist that I should add to mine?

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This post was sponsored by Target who allowed me to use my own voice to remind you that back-to-school is just around the corner. Which is just one more reason they totally rock!