I loved seeing my kids so excited about school. As a family, we supported their excitement with visits to the school and their new classroom. We walked around the playground, met their teacher before school started, and attended open houses and back to school events. There was always a bit of nervousness around this time… “5th grade– would I really be able to be with the big kids in 5th grade!?” It’s pretty normal for kids to feel that way so we talked about things and allowed those feelings to surface.

How did you and your kids get ready for Back-to-School?
We had several Back to School rituals that we did religiously, everyone (parents included) was involved and we really cherished this time of year.

1. New first day of school outfit. I have three daughters, so you can imagine the amount of energy that went into this selection. Our son also enjoyed his new clothes, but it wasn’t quite the emotional event it was for our daughters.

2. Review current shoes and clothes. It was fun to see how much they had grown and what they could pass on. We bought what was needed to start the school season. To spread out the spending we planned purchases for the rest of fall, like who was going to need a fall jacket or new jeans, etc.

3. Shopping for school supplies. Each child had their supply list from school and walked up and down the aisles, thoughtfully planning their purchases. Every year required a new backpack or book bag and this was a very big deal. What style, color or character?? It was a big decision and once made, seemed to signal a readiness to get started.

4. Practice getting to school. We lived pretty close to our school. It was only six blocks away so our kids walked to school most days. To get ready and build the back to school excitement, we practiced walking to school. Over the years, each of our kids had a stint as the crossing guard, so we did some rehearsing there too. I still have fond memories of that special corner and seeing each of our kids in their fluorescent orange crossing guard garb.

5. Exploring lunch items. Back to school also meant back to sack lunches and tastes change from year to year, so we spent some time planning our lunch menus. After we talked things through, we made a trip to the grocery store, specifically for our lunch food. We stocked up on brown bags or colored bags to spice things up a bit!

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