Back to school traditions.

i make a bus cake. looks just like a bus too. the kids love it even though they don't get to ride a bus.
we always take pics of the kiddos in their new outfits and "charlie-go-fasters". (our word for shoes.)

No back to school traditions here yet, but I'm sure I will excitedly implement some when Camden starts school. Just wanted to chime in that I LOVE school supplies! I am seeing them everywhere right now... Walmart, Target, CVS. Oh, the joy! I've even bought some, even though no one in the house is going to school yet. Haha!

I love school supplies too. Our back to school tradition (I guess its a tradition) is that dh and dd's go on a daddy daughter fishing weekend up north at our cabin, a couple of weeks before school starts. Then after they are home for a couple of days. Dd's and I get up early and hit the stores. We start with the school supplies, then cloths, then shoes and go out to eat somtime in between there. Then when we get home dd's put on a fasion show, to show off all thier new cloths.
On the first day of school, I take lots of pictures, from the time dd's wake up until the time the bus drives away. Then although I plan on getting tons of stuff done with the house all to myself, I usually just mope around all day missing my girls.

I also LOVE the 12 days of Kindergarten idea. My little guy is going off to Kindergarten this year. We did do a great little 'first day of preschool' by getting our lunch list set and going to the grocery store to buy a loaf of bread, new jar of peanut butter, new jar of jelly, bag of apples and a bag of cheetos. Same lunch everyday! Charlie is my very structured kid. HA! I LOVED grocery shopping w/my mom when I was little and school supply shopping was great. We wore uniforms so no new clothes but I loved getting new pencils and notebooks. The thought of scribbling doodles and thoughts on a fresh piece of paper...wooohooo... enjoy! FUN! We havn't even started school shopping and I"m sure supplies are getting slim but we'll find what we need. GOOD LUCK!!! Wendy
Good luck Ali!!

We read "The Kissing Hand" (which I need to practice as to not cry TOO much while reading) the night before the first day of school. The first day of school for me now means learning to trust someone new with the best part of my heart...

For dinner on the first day of school, I dress up like a lunch lady and serve up a menu of pigs in blankets, pears, peas and a juice box. Documented in a layout:
http://www.scrapaddict.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=21475&ppuser=6

I couldn't wait for my son to start Kindergarten so we could trek to the store for school supplies. Imagine my disappointment when no list arrived. When his teacher said "no school supplies needed. The kids share everything." Okay, I live in California. They do share everything. I've sent "wish list" items to the class . . . cooking supplies, a globe. We haven't hit the ritual yet. We're open and reading the posts here. Something will stick. Even in a place where everyone shares everything.

I have 4 kids and we have our own back to school "traditions". We all wait for the school supply lists... once they arrive we plan a couple of days to shop for clothes, supplies, shoes, backpacks, etc... My kids favorite part is that they all get to pick 2 "wants" such as a mirror for their locker or special expensive pens/pencils.... also, when we get home we all sit around and make piles and get sharpies out to label all of the supplies!
Good Luck Ali and Simon....
wishing lot's of back to school memories!

lol...my 6yo daughter and i went supply shopping tonight and i couldn't keep myself from caressing, fingering, and just picking up many, MANY supplies...i was strong until i saw the composition books filled with grid paper. GRID PAPER! sigh.
ok, my kidlet is only in 1st grade this year, so our traditions are new and few: we go and meet her teacher before school starts, take lots of pictures: with sisters, with teacher, at desk, etc. we do a mommy and madeline only shopping excursion and gets a new pair of shoes (next to the supplies, the shoes were always my favorite part as a kid) which she will be choosing on her own for the 1st time! we have a special dinner that she gets to choose.
of course some of the traditions will change and evolve - some maybe after reading all of these ideas, and some from necessity when my twins start school. good luck and happy school!

I loved shopping for my new pair of "good" school shoes every year. I was all about the shoes even in grade school! One year I found a pair that I loved soooooo much, but none of the available sizes was really perfect for me. I begged anyway, giving many excuses why they would work. That was when my mom gave me some advice that has stayed with me ever since. "Jan," she said, "the shoes need to fit your feet, not your head!" There's probably an excellent scrapbook layout in there somewhere. If only we had taken pictures that day!

i have to chime in again, because OH MY! i love the lunch lady idea! also the 12 days of kindergarten (i can see it evolving into every years grade, thanks for the idea!) and kelly-jo said it perfectly: "The first day of school for me now means learning to trust someone new with the best part of my heart..."

On our first day of school, my super-sweet Mama gave my teacher a flower from our garden. So, we have our "first day of school" photos -- but we are always holding a flower. I remember thinking "ugg...again?" But now looking back on it, I love how thoughtful my mom was and how important she made small gestures.

These are all wonderful ideas. I took a photo of my girls in front of the front door all the way through K-12 grade--it is fun to see how they grow and the choices of shoes and clothes especially in middle school! Also don't forget to take a pciture of your child on the last day of their senior year of HS. I have the cutest lo's done with the first day of K and the last day of HS. Makes a Mom want to cry. Now the day you take them to college that is just over the top, just bring a whole box of kleenex for the drive home!

One of my friends did something really cool last year - she took a photo (naturally!) of her son on his first day of school, and on the last day of the school year, took another with him in the same outfit so she could see the difference that one year made. I'm definitely doing the same for my girls this year!

What great back to school memories! What I remember most (outside of the school supplies -- which like most of us, I LOVED), was that during that first week of school, we could pick one day when our mom would give us lunch money (rather than making our lunches) so that we could buy lunch in the lunch line. For some reason, that was a really big deal to us (my two brothers and I were literally born one right after the other... so there were three kids in three consecutive grades always...). Maybe it made us feel more important -- more responsible... more grown up... maybe it was getting to make a choice, rather than just having the lunch decision made for us... Don't really know why it was so exciting, but it was -- at least it made a big enough impression to be able to remember 43 years later! (Dang, I am getting OLD!)

I always take a picture of them the night before school starts when they are sleeping. I pose ?'s such as "who will be in my class? will I like my teacher? will we have a lot of homework? etc. Then, I take a picture of them on the day before school ends and answer those ?'s. I also take a picture of their hands..."what will these create this year?"

Our school tradition centers around a song...the old "School Days, School Days, Dear Old Golden Rule Days....Reading and 'Riting and 'Rithmetic....talk to the tune of a hickory stick...(etc..etc.)I wake my kids up EVERY first day of school singing this song...Will call my daughter in a couple of weeks and sing it to her as she begins her final semester of graduate school (yep - even in college, I called her to sing.)..I'm a teacher and the first day of school is INTENSE for me...so this is a great tradition that I can do consistently no matter how tired/stressed/busy I am!

each year my mom takes all of the grandchildren shopping for their new school backpack. they get to pick out whichever one they want and they all go together...one store to the next. (lunch included too.) one of my younger nieces is starting kindegarten this year, and to get her pumped up about it, all of the other kids have been making a big deal out of the fact that she gets to pick out her first bag. shes so excited...already on the hunt for a highschool musical one. lol. i love this little tradition and think it will be so fun when my little guy is old enough to join the others. such a fun way to get kids excited for school. nothing like a new bag. and so much fun for grandma...getting to spend time with all the kids before school starts. hope you and chris find a fun tradition to share with your little cutie, simon. thanks for the daily inspiration.

oh, and i forgot to mention that before they go shopping, they all go and donate their used bag from the past year.

On the first day of kindergarten(this is the only year) for all three of my children I bought a cake from the grocery store and had them write on it,Zach(childs name), your a big boy now!.
This was a surprise for them when they came home and we all sit at the table eat cake and talk about their first big day of school! Each of the older children love celebrating this big day for their younger sibling as well!I of course take pics of them with the cake, I also take a picture in front of the entertainment center every year the morning of the first day(I guess I can't buy a new one until they are all out of school!), I love to see how my kids have grown every year. Last but not least we buy a few new outfits and shoes for the first week of school and the day the list comes home we go shopping immediatly. I always allow them to get a new backpack and lunch box every year if they want(some years they want to reuse from the previous year). Enjoy celebrating this new season in your lives!!!