We have been in “school mode” for the last few weeks and here in Massachusetts kids are in Pre School at 2.9 years old, so it was nice not having to transition Sophia too much when starting back again. Each school or daycare has their own “must have list” but I’ve found that they are pretty standard regardless of where your kids are going. I wanted to share what I bought for Sophia as she started school and also how we worked through the drop off blues that we had after the excitement of the first day had worn off.
Bento Box || Lets start with our most used item – the bento lunch box! It’s easy to clean daily and I like that there are little compartments for all the food. Easy to pack as well.
Mini Backpack || Admittedly I didn’t think this was going to be a mini backpack, but it’s actually quite roomy. It fits two additional outfits, a hat & sunscreen. All she needs for a half day at school.
Lunchbox || The bento box fits perfectly inside and I love that I can add a little ice pack on top! Comes in a ton of different patterns too!
Water Bottle || Stainless steel water bottle is a must for school! I fill it up with cold water before we leave and then of course they refill throughout the day. Had to go Disney princess for Sophia!
Pre School Label Pack || Everything has to be labeled in school! I mean everything, right down to the shoes! I love this label pack and there are plenty of leftovers in case any get pulled off or washed away.
Daily Vitamin || Sophia has been taking a vitamin every day since she turned two and it’s probably the highlight of her morning! I think more than ever I am diligent about her vitamins!
Supergoop Sunscreen || Maybe on the pricier side of a toddler sunscreen because it’s not actually for toddlers, but this goes on smooth without being oily and doesn’t leave any white residue. This is my favorite for myself and for Sophia!
Masks || These are not going anywhere anytime soon and I’m just thankful (and a little sad) that Sophia is so unfazed wearing a mask because she now wears it in school.
Sneakers || What is back to school without some new kicks! I find these to be incredibly adorable and had to get them for Sophia! Mostly she does wear sandals right now, but come fall it will be better to wear sneakers!!
After the first day of being excited, Sophia realized that she had to go back to school and was less than thrilled. I may have mentioned that we are starting with just three days a week / 4 hours a day and then she will transition to full time in the Fall just before baby #2 arrives. We did this on purpose because I didn’t want to just thrust her into a new thing after 17+ months at home with both Gary and I. I knew there would be some tough drop offs, some tears (from both of us), but in reality I didn’t really prepare her too much for it. The hard drop offs only lasted for one week and since then it’s been smooth sailing which I am so grateful for! We had one particularly rough morning where I left in more tears than Sophia! Here are a few things that we did and suggestions from other parents as well.
- Start talking about school every day that you can. Explain what they will do at school. Who they will see. Even what they might eat for lunch. Some recommended going full on in depth with: we’re going to go in the car, get in your car seat, drive to the school, etc. I didn’t go that far, but can see how that can work for some kids.
- We prepared with new stuff – because who doesn’t love new school supplies. I showed Sophia her lunch box, backpack, new shoes – all of the fun stuff and it really worked for the first day. Then adding in a new tumbler a little later got her excited.
- The week that drop off was hard, I was not above bribing my child with candy. Before we would leave the house I said I’m taking 3 chocolate chips with me, you can have one now and then two when you get to your classroom. That worked well for us to the point where she didn’t actually need the chocolate and said she would save it for when she got home.
- I always told her exactly when I was coming back to pick her up – right after she ate lunch. This was really easy for her to comprehend and she would repeat back when I would be coming back to get her.
- We are lucky that our school is still allowing in person drop off right to the classroom – we can’t go inside anymore and that was making it harder on Sophia that I would actually be in her classroom. Now that she knows I’m not allowed inside, it’s an easier pass off to the teacher.
- We have started to prep her by saying, today when you go to school you can tell your friends and teachers about XYZ – whether it was moving to her new big girl bed or riding a carousel over the weekend. She is a born storyteller and this has been really exciting for her.
- Someone on Instagram said that we could get matching bracelets so that she felt like I was with her all day – so when she touched the bracelet I would feel her little hand touching! We did not try this, but I could see how it would work.
- Finally, the biggest tip I got was to just make it as quick as possible, which thankfully due to not being able to go into the classroom anymore, we are able to just jet out of there after our goodbyes!
I am by no means a professional when it comes to school and I’m sure we will run into other challenges as time goes on, but for now we take it one drop off at a time!
SHOP THE POST
What did you buy for your kids starting back at school?
You had me at Bento box! I know that’s for little ones but I almost want one of those for myself, I love them!
Oh, I hate that Sophia struggled with dropoff for the first week, but I’m so glad she got through it. Olivia did the same thing when she was little and it was always the hardest thing to leave her when she was crying like that. I do second the “make it as quick as possible” advice, though, because that did always seem to help with Olivia. The longer I stayed there and coddled her (so hard not to do that though!), the harder it was for her when I did finally leave. It’s like it prolonged her agony so it always worked best for us to make it short and sweet! It sounds like you and Gary have a very thoughtful plan in place to enable her to have a smooth transition, though, and I’m sure she’ll continue to do great!
So many cute back-to-school necessities! That sunscreen is one of my favorites too! Glad the dropoffs are getting easier!
Jill – Doused in Pink
So glad its all gone so smoothly for Sophia to go to school.
I’m sure she will be excited soon enough to tell her school about being a big sister.
These are all great items. My girls love their new bento boxes. i love the personalized stuff too!
So many cute things for back to school! Zoe used to cry a lot at drop off when she was younger. It was so hard. Especially when she got to the 3K room where the window faced the parking lot and she would be standing in the window crying when I got out there to go to my car and had to walk past again. But now she is just really excited to be back and see her friends and she runs right in. Which is another flavor of heartbreaking lol.
Oh got so many cute things! Yes a lot of children struggle with the first few weeks of school at the younger ages I can not imagine how much it all is with a pandemic. But it sounds like you are handling it well.
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
How darling is that bento box! Man I’m in trouble next year when I need to start packing a lunch box every day (her pre-school provides breakfast, lunch, and snacks). Glad to hear she’s transitioning better, and here’s to no more tears <3
Green Fashionista
All these items look great! Especially, the masks are so important for safety thanks for sharing 🙂 http://www.bauchlefashion.com/2021/08/chanels-take-on-modernism-6-bags-im.html
We had to do the matching bracelets to deal with separation anxiety for a bit when the boys had a rough patch at kindy! We had pulled them out of their old centre after a major incident and it took them a while to get used to a different centre at first. The bracelets helped and it all thankfully settled down!
Hope you are having a good weekend 🙂