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La…la…la..la. I’m not listening to back-to-school talk. La…la…la…la. I can’t hear the TV and radio ads for backpacks, composition books, and crayons. La…la…la…la. I’m not even thinking about when the teacher assignment letters will arrive. I’m not ready for back-to-school at all. How about you?
The beginning of the school year is bittersweet. I love getting “my time” back during the day when the kids are at school, but hate saying goodbye to the relaxing days of summer.
Now the kids love going back to school. I’m grateful that I rarely hear a complaint about school starting up again. After a couple of months at home even they are bored with the summer routine of swim team, swim meets, camps, lazy days watching TV and playing video games, and day trips. I’m lucky that all of my kids love school.
Now you might think that back to school is just one big happy time at our house…since the kids love school and all. For the most part we are a happy bunch, but several not-so-happy times stand out in my mind. None the mishaps were major, but when I think back I could have done something to avoid each and every one. Here’s my list of mishaps followed by my “20/20 hindisght” tip:
- The time that the toddler howled when his sisters boarded the school bus on the first day of school. I honestly think he thought he would never see them again. Probably, I should have talked to him more about his sisters going back to school.
- The time the youngest was waiting for the school bus on his first day of kindergarten with my husband, his sister, and I when I realized that his school bus shaped name tag was in the house. You have never seen anyone sprint back in to the house as I did. I knew he would be upset if he didn’t have a school bus tag with his name on it like his classmates. Isn’t it funny that I labeled my kid?! Well, I didn’t want the school to lose him, right? Probably, I should have placed the tag beside his backpack the night before.
- The time that my daughter turned 5 on the second day of kindergarten but the teacher wasn’t willing to let me bring in cupcakes. I’m still mad about that! From that point onwards, I made sure that she got to celebrate her birthday at the end-of-the-school year with cupcakes. I’m not sure about this one. I talked to the teacher at “Meet the Teacher Day,” told her of my daughter’s upcoming birthday, was stunned when the teacher rebuffed my suggestion that I send in a treat, and realized as the school year wore on that this teacher was overwhelmed by teaching in EVERY way possible.
- The time we purchased a Spiderman backup that my son had talked off all summer only to find that the zipper broke on the second week of use. Lesson learned. After this happened, I only bought backpacks from LL Bean or Lands End.
- The time that I walked my 6th grader to the bus stop for the obligatory first day of school photo only to find that she was grumpy and scowly when I took her photo. 🙁 This one is tricky. I should have known that my fiercely independent oldest wouldn’t want me to (a) walk her to the bus stop and (b) take her photo. The next year I took her photo in the house! We were all much happier.
- The time that I took my 6th grader to Staples the evening after her first day of middle school to get her school supplies only to find that every other middle schooler and high schooler was there, too. Why don’t MS and HS give out school supply lists ahead of time?!? Since middle and high school teachers only tell students what they need for each class on the first day of school, there’s not a lot I can do, except I now try to stockpile 1″ binders, looseleaf paper, folders, pens, and pencils.
Though the mishaps of the school year stand out in my mind, overall getting ready for school is a fun, joyful time. From buying new clothes and shoes to labeling all those school supplies. Of course, with a couple of high schoolers the labeling of the school supplies can’t happen until AFTER school starts. You can see that I am still bitter about doing this. Fortunately, I still have an elementary schooler. My son and I usually spend an afternoon where I hand him a school supply and he labels it.
I love seeing that stack of composition books and that new pencil box, not to mention all those binders. But my kids often don’t want to write their names on each and every single, solitary school supply. Enter labels.
Using pre-printed labels is quick and easy. Your kids will love how easy it is to slap a label on their school supply. You will love that you can order labels online with Bright Star Kids. You can even get your labels delivered quickly with free shipping.
Bright Star has 2 main types of labels:
Stick-on labels are extremely durable, so they’ll withstand the wear and tear of dishwashers. They’re 100% waterproof and scratch resistant. They’ll stick to most kinds of plastics and will stay stuck for years. When you’re ready to remove them, simply peel off and no residue will be left behind.
Iron-on labels are quick and easy to pop on to all your kids clothing. They will stay stuck in the toughest washing machine and clothes dryer cycle, and will still look great in years to come.
You can get organized for back to school with Bright Star’s most popular School Labels kit, that has all the stick-on and iron-on labels you’ll need for your kids belongings. And, you can get a special offer on Bright Star Kids labels simply by joining the conversation. If you join the conversation below this post, you will receive a code after you reply to the conversation in the widget for $5 off an order of $40 or more
Put a label on it! Kick off the school year right and prevent unnecessary mishaps. Reply below for $5 off your Bright Star Kids order.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bright Star Kids. The opinions and text are all mine.
