Back To School

i am not ready for school. and neither or my kids. thankfully we have a few more weeks to sleep in around our house, but i do need to start getting things together so we don't miss it all together! seeing as how i have several kiddos that are going --and have been going-- to head out onto the big yellow bus, we have some policies in our house that help keep spending down.

1. buy quality bags. the first year i bought a lower quality, and very cheap, princessy bag for ciela, and it didn't make it through kindegarten, although she loved it. now, she has a great fashion-print jansport, that is still going strong, and jansport has as amazing policy: if it breaks, send it to them and they will fix for it FREE! anytime! my husband's backpack has been around for years, and has been to the jansport shop once. definitely worth it!! and it doesn't neccesarily have to be a big grand. toran has a sweet bag that we got from officemax 2 years ago, and it still looks brand new, for him we made sure it had a thick rubber bottom since i KNOW he is going to drag it around.
2. the lunchbox has to last at least 2 years. that cuts down on some of the choices the kids might want now. especially ciela. AND a soft lunchbox that is rectangular is perfect for art supplies. it won't break or crack like the plastic ones, and holds all of their supplies.

now that my kids know these 2 house rules, they don't whine or even ask for anything new when it's not their turn. and they help each other make good choices when they do get something new!