Back To School Basics
Kenny is wearing Gap Shorts, Gap Polo (similar here), Native Shoes, and he's carrying Pottery Barn Kids Backpack and Lunch bag.
When I was little, I remember back-to-school shopping with my mom- we'd leave the house at 8am, drive at least 45 minutes to the nearest Target, mall, Sam's Club, etc and typically not return until the sun had set. There were no casual Target runs or running out to grab shoes when they landed at Scheels. It was a full day event, because I grew up in a super small town in Iowa that was at least 45 minutes from any city (small towns are the best towns, by the way...more to come on that). At the end of our all day extravaganza, the truck would be so loaded down and we usually would be sitting among a giant pile of shopping bags on our way home. I mean, my mom did have 3 kids to outfit and supply, so I guess that's warranted. I'll be honest, Kenny and I hopped on Amazon the other day and happily ordered all his supplies and guess what? They were at our house in......two days! Boom. There are definitely some things that are harder about parenting in 2019 (smart phones, kid safety, screen time, etc), but Amazon Prime is not one of them. Amazon Prime was invented to put a little "mark" in the mom win column. So my first piece of advice would be, avoid every line and crowded isle at Target and order all the supplies from Amazon.
My favorite back to school items and tips about school lunch are below.
Backpack: I'm a big fan of Pottery Barn Kids backpacks. I personally think the backpacks hold up well, they come in different sizes to accommodate different ages of kids, their patters are cute and they can obviously be monogrammed, which I love. They also have all the matching accessories (lunch boxes, cups, etc), which is kind of cool too.
Clothes: It's hard to link all the clothes I buy for K-man when he heads back to school, but my favorite brands are: Gap, Mini Boden, and Cat & Jack. Gap has great basics, especially t-shirts, and typically runs some sort of 40% off sale every week. Cant' beat that. Mini Boden has the best pants- the drawstrings work, which is imperative for us, because we make tiny humans. Cat & Jack has really cute graphic tees and I really like their pants as well, and you cannot beat the price considering how fast these kiddos can grow.
Lunchbox: We really like the Bento Lunchbox. The Bento box has a nice tight seal, which is important for us because Kenny's lunch does not go in a refrigerator. It sits out all morning, so this lunchbox keeps his chilled food somewhat cold until 11:30am when he eats lunch. The lunchbox also has multiple spots to put food, which is nice because sometimes 4 year olds only eat certain things on certain days, so we can load it up knowing he'll eat at least half the things in there. We like knowing he's not hungry at school.
Shoes: We typically start the school year with a pair of Native shoes. Lots of kids have these shoes and they are easy to slide on and off. They have a covered toe and they also happen to be waterproof. We then transition to a pair of Nike velcro shoes. They are also easy to get on and off and I can typically find them at Nordstrom Rack for an affordable price. They also have proven to last the test of time as long as Kenny's feet don't grow too fast.
School Lunches/Snacks: We obviously only have one kid to worry about each day as far as lunches go (Matilda stays home with me or a nanny), but packed lunch can be daunting when you think about creatively packing food for a 4 year old 5 days/week. Our go-to lunches are: the classic PB&J, Peanut Butter Banana Sushi (a tortilla lined with PB and rolled up with bananas in it- courtesy of Alex over at The Defined Dish), or shaved turkey/shaved chicen. Kenny is also a big fan of most fruits, cheese sticks, veggie straws, veggies+humus. He takes two snacks per day to school which consist of Fig Bars, raisins, graham crackers, gold fish, and any type of pre-packaged snack that he will eat from Costco. :)
Our first official day was yesterday. Kenny was so excited until the minute we actually had to leave him. Albeit he did not shed tears, I could feel his scared little eyes piercing my back after I kissed him goodbye. I held it together until we were about 10 paces from the car when Andy asked "how ya doing babe?" Then the tears hit my cheeks a little harder when we drove away and Matilda very sadly kept saying "bye bye Kenny." Two weeks ago when those two little goofballs were arguing, I was ready for school to start, but, man, today I was sad. Am I alone? Please tell me no. I am very excited for Kenny and want to instill in him that learning is fun, but I saw another year flash before my eyes. I mean, he might as well be moving into his college dorm. HA!
I hope these Back to School Basics help some of you in the days and weeks ahead.
Happy Back to Schooling,
AFK