Friday, July 27, 2012

Five on Friday: Back to School Supplies

I am already in back to school mode - I am thinking about all the things I need to do to prepare my oldest beauty for her first day of Kindergarten and to ensure that I am prepared as well.  Kindergarten will bring about some changes for our family and in this instance change means I "have" to procure (man not really have to, but want to) some new supplies to make the transition a smooth one.  I have a small obsession with school supplies, always have, always will, and I was thrilled that the time has come for me to start the school supply shopping for Olivia.  More on the comprehensive list of changes later, but for now I am going to focus on the Five Things we've done and need to do to get Olivia ready for school, supply wise.

1) Backpack - this was a tough decision for me, I always thought I would go with a PBK backpack for her, she has one she uses now, but its about the size of a lunchbox so we knew we would have to get her a new one.  I wanted Olivia to have a choice, but I clearly only wanted her to pick from Leigh-Approved options - so I went to poll my Facebook friends and it became clear that Lands End of LL Bean were the natural choices for quality - after some quick research I realized that LL Bean didn't have any "girl colors" to offer us in the size backpack we needed - so I defaulted to Lands End and gave Olivia two color choices, neither of which knocked my socks off, but the 30% off sale helped sell me.


2) Lunch Box - the whole lunch box thing kinda threw me, while I was excited to have to procure a lunch box, this actually means I will be packing lunch for the beauty every single day - big change for me.  I decided to get a matching lunch box - but I was distressed that the monogram choices and the fact that the backpack and lunch box choices didn't match up - they will be mismatched. Irks me! But I did learn to NOT use her full name, I don't want her getting snatched up by a stranger who reads her backpack, calls her name and makes her think that she should know him or her...so we went the monogram route. However, it probably wouldn't be hard for a stranger to guess that "O" as a first initial isn't Olive...


3) Pencil Pouch - this one was tough too - her school requested a 7.5 X 10 inch pencil pouch - for crying out loud, do you realize how big that is? At Target there was 1 option that measured 7.5 x 10 and it was plastic and had a zip lock like closure - and it likely wouldn't have lasted more than the first week so I bucked the system and grabbed her the biggest, most functional, fashionable one I could find and went with a zebra print one, with an actual zipper, not the zip lock closure thingy.

4) Lunch Box Supplies - so this is in addition to the lunch box itself, we will need some container like thingys to go inside the lunch box to keep her lunch cold - I have found several options on various websites, including Zulily - and I haven't actually made a purchase yet, but I am leaning towards the ones that include the stay cool feature - like the one below. There is nothing worse than a warm bologna sandwich. If you have any suggestions about storage containers, let me know.
5) Nap Mat - I wanted to go all out and get Olivia a cute little nap mat, a beautiful bright pattern, with her monogram, but after talking to a few parents and reading the recommendations from her school, I have decided that its better to just follow suit and go with the standard mat you can find at Target or Walmart, so we will be making that purchase this weekend as I aim to finish up the school supply list. Our August is insane and I don't want to stress about the supplies and God forbid I forget one of the 713 boxes of crayons I need to procure, I don't want Olivia to be "that kid" whose Mom is a deadbeat. And for the record, I want a nap mat.



But I would rather mine look a little more like this:

3 comments:

Theresa said...

Braeden has the same backpack in grey and orange. Hmm... I hadn't even thought about a nap mat. It would be nice if we'd get some information on what we need to get and do before school starts. I'm with you, the monogrammed one is super cute.

oneof4dms said...

I think you'll learn pretty quickly that all of the fancy stuff just isn't worth it. Our lost and found is full of expensive lunch boxes, tupperware, water bottles, North Face jackets, etc. I wouldn't worry about the pencil pouch...just get one that is sturdy and she'll be fine. We always request specifics, but realistically a million different supplies come in the building. As for the Fit n Fresh stuff....just from my experience I find these frustrating. The cold packs touch the food and make it soggy and then you have to clean them. Gross. I'm assuming the lunch box is insulated, so just throw a small cold pack in with whatever you are packing and call it a day. :) xoxo

A Boy, His Girls & A Big Dog said...

Thanks for the tip Dana, I would be furious if my food was soggy, and I wouldn't dare do that to Olivia - we have plenty of cold packs, so that shouldn't be hard to do.