Second grade and kindergarten, here we come! How is it that the 2019-2020 school year is already upon us? Summer was sweet, but there is so much to look forward to when school begins again. There is a beauty about the gift of starting over again. There are new classrooms, new teachers, and new school supplies. It all says, “You are welcome here, and you can rock this year!”
I love that my kiddos love school. I know enough to not take that for granted, and I realize that as the years pass, their love for school might diminish. But I hope not.
We spent last weekend gathering our supplies and organizing our thoughts (not to mention doing gobs of laundry) for back to school week. On the agenda first: food. We made a big visit to Costco to gather the obligatory snack and lunchbox items.
After packing the pantry, we stuffed backpacks with the kids’ supplies. We zipped them shut and hoped everything would stay put. I know some people think that school supply lists have become big and expensive, but I can’t help but think about how grateful I am that my kiddos have free access to public education. I try to send my kids prepared, and we do our best to donate where we can to help others.
Speaking of donations, Harper and Jameson also spent some time getting ready to spoil their new teachers a bit.
We included a few necessities (kleenex, dry erase markers, sanitizer and wipes, and baggies) and a few fun items (post-its, smiley binder clips, and planner stickers).
Harper and Jameson both colored a teacher favorites sheet to hand in on the first day. We do one of these each August, and then we can shop for teachers all year long and rest assured they are receiving what they love. I got this PDF from this sweet site.
We picked up cards to wish our new teachers a happy start and to let them know that we couldn’t wait to spend the year together!
Then we added a sweet touch. Chocolate is always a perk.
On back to school night, the kids had a fun little bag of goodies to present.
Then, we came home to organize our water bottles and lunch boxes. I ordered new bento boxes for fun and varied packing.
We set out our clothes and snuggled into bed early. Soon enough, it was time for …
We wished them well and sent them off. They came home with the same smiles and contented hearts. We really are so lucky.
And now we are most happy for the weekend.
Yawn. Stretch. Yawn.
It’s time to rest and slow down a bit before gearing up for a full week ahead.
Wishing all of you who are in “back to school mode” a joyful transition back to life and lots of smiles around the dinner table.
