Must Haves for Back to School

My daughter starts grade 1 on Tuesday. She'll be in school full time (as opposed to afternoon kindergarten). I'm nervous about us having to wake up early and concerned that I'll miss her when she's gone all day... She's convinced she won't have time to do anything fun anymore, but I know she'll love school all over again once she's back.


Here are my top five must haves for back to school (in no particular order)

1. Sigg bottles

Not just any ole aluminum bottle, but a thick Swiss-made original. Sigg bottles come in super cute designs and are easy to distinguish from all the plastic water bottles out there. Sigg bottles are leak proof and work well for car trips and night time too. Make sure that your Sigg bottle has a new "yellow" liner as opposed to the gold coloured liner made prior to 2008.

This bottle is one of my favourites from their current collection. You can check out many others at Sigg!


2. A radio alarm clock for the kitchen

Yes, the kitchen. I set my kitchen radio alarm clock so that it lets me know when we need to head down stairs. It gives us just enough time to put on coats and shoes and walk to school. This ensures we arrive on time -- unless there's an unforseen mishap of course -- like a missing shoe or kiddos who just won't walk at their usual pace.


3. Cute stationary for writing notes to the scholar or to the teacher.

I have some cute note pads that I use to write love notes to my daughter. I don't know when that stops being cool, but she's 5 and thinks it's great to get a message from mom -- especially since she can read them too. For older kiddos sending a joke will keep them laughing (and thinking of you) throughout the day.

I also use my fancy notepads to send messages to the teacher -- not love notes or jokes, but messages none the less.

4. Labels -- the dishwasher safe kind

I ordered great labels off an e-bay seller a couple years ago (who I searched for, but they're no longer in business it seems). The ones I have are small with cute Disney characters on them (Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story, Mickey Mouse...) I stick them to the Sigg bottles and the little glass containers I use for my daughter's lunch. They also work for toys that get taken out of the house for show and tell or car trips. I bought some with our last name and stuck them to our cell phone, cameras etc... too!

5. Cloth snack bags that can be reused

Check out Etsy and search for "snack bags" or "sandwich bags" for some great patterns and characters that will make lunch extra fun!

My daughter has Strawberry Shortcake and Winnie the Pooh cloth bags for her lunches. In a pinch I've even sent my son's Superman and Cars snack bags along with her too! She hasn't minded (yet!). These bags help make her lunches as litterless as possible.


Comment here with your top five must haves for back to school!