BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY

I’m not sure if you are aware, but it’s back to school season. We, as parents, know the shiny, new school supplies won’t live long enough to see their first Christmas, and buying an extra box of Kleenex whenever we run to Walmart is a great idea. You can never have too much Kleenex.

Last year, we introduced Michael to Box Tops for Education with a bake sale full of easy DIY decorations and a silent auction. And from there, he started leaving any empty packages I might have missed on the counter so I could remove the Box Top before pitching them, if he didn’t cut it out himself. He knew that throwing away a Box Top was like throwing away his allowance, one dime at a time.

This year, to celebrate my baby (who is no longer a baby) going to kindergarten, we had a mini back to school party! And I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t one of my secret weapons in the mission to keep him focused on how awesome his new school will be, and less on not going to the same school as all of his friends from Montessori.

BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY DECORATIONS:

It wasn’t a fancy back to school party, but it didn’t need to be. I simply staged the baker’s rack with school themed party decorations and Box Tops.

BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY FOOD:

I let him pick out cookies, applesauce, snack bars, and juice.

BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY ACTIVITIES:

And I surprised him with some new activities to give him a little more variety in his daily homework routine. (Yes, I am a ‘mean mom’ because I made him do homework every single day during his summer break.)

BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY FAVORS:

The ‘party favors’ were nothing more than school supplies and applesauce, but the anticipation of what was in the bag was plenty exciting for him. Yanno… because he is 5 years old.

And really, reminding me to buy the Kleenex for the school supply list over, and over, and over again while we looked for the ‘perfect’ backpack was a jolly good time for him.

I know all of the parents can relate to wanting to play the thrifty school supply shopping game. Yanno, the one where you watch the ads for eleventy billion stores to see who is featuring the penny deals for the week? The game that has you driving all over town for .25 crayons that might survive a month before your toddler eats them? (Not because that happened this afternoon or anything. My toddler doesn’t eat crayons unless they’re gluten free…)

Yeah… about that game… I found myself at Walmart, too. Backpack- check. School supplies- check. Paper products because my husband used the last roll of Viva and didn’t tell me- check. I even scored double Box Tops. Not because I know kids have Box Top competitions or anything. And definitely not because I enjoy winning said competitions.

Have you been taking advantage of the double Box Tops on certain Kleenex, Scott and Viva products? And have you been telling your child they can only pick a cereal from the ones with double Box Tops?

Not that I do that…