I try not to be THAT mom. But it is in my blood to procrastinate to the point of absurdity. I try to let the fruits of my wait-to-the-last-moment harvest affect only me, but one year I was THAT mom.
The mom that sent her kids to school on the first day without school supplies.
{gasp}
It had been a busy end of summer, start of fall. We had returned from a family vacation to find that the to-do list exceeded the time available for to-doing. I got three boys outfitted in new school uniforms, shoes, belts, backpacks and lunch boxes.
I ordered a list of books for each child that rivaled a library aisle in size.
The night before the first day, we packed backpacks full of new books, made lunches and set clothes out for the next morning.
In the middle of the night it occurred to me that I might be forgetting something…
But what?
The next morning the boys got ready and we hopped into the car and drove to school.
As I was pulling their overly-heavy crisp new backpacks out of the car I realized that they didn’t even have a pencil.
Uh-oh.
That lead to a frantic dismantling of the car’s glove compartment and front seat middle console searching for writing instruments of any type. A handful of lint-covered pens were hurriedly stuffed into new backpack pockets with the instructions to “borrow a pencil from a neighbor”.
And I drove directly to the store so the second day of school could go smoother than the first.
The weird thing is that I LOVE school supplies. The sight of freshly sharpened pencils and new crayons makes me smile. I have no idea how I forgot an entire PART of returning to school. Since that year I have followed a few guidelines to avoid being THAT mom.
How to NOT be THAT Mom on the First Day of School…
Tips for for First Day of School Success
1. Make a separate list ahead of time of all the tasks that needs to be done for each child and attach the book, supply and shopping lists physically to the list. Depending on the school, this can be a major organizational undertaking. My 2nd grader has 17 books that need to be purchased before the first day of school.
2. At least 10 days in advance, make stacks of everything you have accumulated for each child and compare it to the list. This gives you time to get a last minute book or school supply at the store before a last minute crisis.
3. Once you have complete stacks for each child of books, school supplies and school uniforms, label EVERYTHING with that child’s name. I mean EVERYTHING. I am an obsessive labeler for home use – many of my boys things look suspiciously similar and I don’t have time for a full size investigation, so labeling things even for only home use works best for us. At school, it is a necessity. There are approximately 1200 blue school-logoed jackets on campus, so finding one child’s without a label would be an impossible task. Bright Star Kids labeling products makes this so easy. The have the perfect label for every situation that will STAY ON. Watch below for a special offer {whoo hoo!}.
4. Stock your glove compartment with freshly sharpened pencils just in case. If you live in a warm climate, I recommend against storing crayons there…but that is another story.
Bright Star has two types of labels – stick-on and iron-on. Both easily survive washing and kid-wear. The stick-on can be removed without residue {I don’t know HOW they do that}. The iron-ons are a necessity for any clothing items that kids might remove at school, and I find it easier to sort laundry at home.
Oh, and they have a School’s Label kit that has all the most popular labels for school time.
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.
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