I’m going to lead with my favorite backpack, and in fact you could suspect me of writing this entire post as an excuse to show it to you:

L.L. Bean Jr. Backpack in Blue Woodland Critter (photo from LLBean.com). Look at the little owls! The sweet baby deer! I’m so sorry it’s in a junior size and that it’s not available until late September and that none of my kids need backpacks this year anyway.

They do have good prints in the regular-size backpacks, too: here’s a shark one (photo from LLBean.com) I would be tempted to get for Henry, if he didn’t already have the next backpack I’m going to show you.
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August. The end of summer vacation is in sight. I go from feeling a little silly/premature about school-supply shopping to feeling a little panicked about school-supply shopping.

One thing we need this year is something to put sandwiches in. I had a HUGE stack of Crayola sandwich boxes I bought on clearance for a dollar each, and I am not even kidding when I say the children lost a DOZEN last year. So obviously re-training is step one, but in the meantime I need sandwich containers. Ideally they should be inexpensive ones, in case the re-training isn’t very successful. I’ve got a few sandwich boxes from the dollar section at Target, but the characters are too young for the two older boys: an 8th grade boy is not going to go to school with a Woody sandwich box.

If cost were not an issue, my favorites are the Crocodile Creek ones (photo from Amazon.com). I love the look of them, and I love the idea of getting one of each type, and I love that they have cool designs like dinosaurs and solar system. But I haven’t yet found them locally, and at Amazon they’re $7-10 each. I’d be mad if the kids lost them.

I like these Trudeau sandwiches boxes (photo from Amazon.com), but you can’t choose the color and the shipping is ridiculous (nearly $8). Plus, I have some Trudeau measuring cups, and I LOVE the way they look but their handles have been snapping off one by one, so perhaps the sandwich boxes would not be durable enough either.
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I did well again at last year’s post-Valentine’s-Day clearances, so I have Phineas & Ferb valentines and Hello Kitty valentines and sticker puzzle valentines galore. And also I have five children in school this year, so it’s a good thing I have galore.

BUT. Considering how many years I’ve been fawning and cooing over the Etsy valentines options, you can bet CASH DOLLARS that when I have only one kid left in a Valentines-exchanging grade (I’d say “one or two kids,” but with twins in the group it would have to be “one or three”), I am going to be ALL OVER that. …Actually, it just occurred to me that my children are a little oblivious, and I could probably get a set for just Henry, or for just Elizabeth, without anyone even noticing. It’s not as if they know how much things cost.

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The twins are starting first grade this year, and they need lunchboxes.

I thought for sure Elizabeth would choose one that was (1) Hello Kitty and (2) pink, but instead she chose a red and blue owl lunch box. (I can’t find it online, but it’s at Target. Super cute, and comes with a little owl-shaped ice pack. It’s on sale this week for $11.)

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I’ve found it fun to shop for ALL the kids, but for Elizabeth way more than for the boys. This makes me feel especially sheepish because she’s a twin, and her twin brother Edward’s wardrobe is about 1/5th the size of hers. And because she’s opinionated and enjoys choosing, she does a lot of sitting with me at the computer while I order things for her, while Edward gets left out. Not that he seems to mind.

But this summer I made a happy discovery: Edward loves Threadless t-shirts. He and I spent a couple of happy sessions sitting at the computer together ordering his “new kindergarten t-shirts,” and for the first time he’s enjoying choosing his clothes each morning—fun for both of us.

Threadless is having a sale right now, with a lot of t-shirts at $5, $9, or $12—and if you spend more than $50 by September 5th, you can use code SEEUINSEPT to get $15 off. (Threadless didn’t ask me to talk about the sale, and they’re not compensating me in any way. I like to shop, and Threadless is more than I would usually spend, and I have a shopping post due and a child who wants more kindergarten shirts, so the sale is timely.)

I’m only considering sale tees, and I’m only considering the designs printed on American Apparel shirts because the Threadless shirts practically turn into crop tops when washed. Even the American Apparel ones are pretty small: Edward, who wears a size 4-5 childrens or even a size 5T in other brands wears a size 8 in the American Apparel t-shirts, and my 9-year-old wears a men’s XS. Anyway, here’s what Edward and I are looking at:

Arr Let O’ Me Nuts (photo from Threadless.com), $9 for kids’ sizes.
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In the past year or so I’ve been finding that wall art from Etsy is very satisfying to buy. I’ve bought several things for the kids for Christmas and birthdays: not only does it last longer than a toy (sometimes I fantasize about them decorating their adult homes with it later on), we REALLY DON’T NEED MORE TOYS. And whenever I’m in the kids’ rooms I feel happy seeing the picture all over again. Two favorites: Little Dinosaur (for dinosaur-loving Henry’s birthday) and a custom name portrait from WirlyGrrl (for Edward, for Christmas).

Here are some “seasonal” Etsy prints that might be a fun way to commemorate a child’s first year of school:

My Favorite Book is Blue print by TrafalgarSquare on Etsy (photo from the shop). My sister-in-law bought several prints (including this one) from this shop, and when I saw them I was like “???” and she was all “!!!” and I replied “!!!” and then I went home and added the store to my favorites and that brings us up to date. The greeting card version of this print would be great with a teacher gift.
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Two goals for back-to-school shopping:

1. Saving money.
2. Bein’ all green ‘n’ stuff.

Sometimes these two goals are in conflict, as when the Super-Speshull Recycled Lunch System of Environmental Awesomeness is $kerjillion and the plain no-environmental-awesomeness one is $5. But other times these two goals work together like pencils and paper.

Tip the first: Reuse instead of purchase. If school shopping is fun for you like it’s fun for me, or if you have kids who want the fun of something new, this will be a challenge. But the best way to be all kissy-kissy to the environment is to use things until they are USED UP, and this saves money too. Sometimes stuff is so beat up by the end of a school year it has to be replaced, but sometimes it can go another year, or two, or three, which brings me to tip the second.
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Look at this adorable school outfit I got for Elizabeth, who starts kindergarten this fall:

Lands’ End Knit Peter Pan Shirt (photo from LandsEnd.com). It’s KNIT, so it’s stretchy for playing in AND I won’t have to iron it, and it was $5.99 down from $18.50. [Edit: Oh, pooh, I see it's sold out now. This one is cute too, but $9.99 instead of $5.99.]

Lands’ End Knit Skort (photo from LandsEnd.com). Again, KNIT. Plus it has attached shorts, which is ESSENTIAL. Plus, it was $9.99 down from $18.50.

I also bought her this sweet brown dress:
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I was pretty grossed out to learn that only about 12% of plastic water bottles are recycled.  This is particularly awful when it’s so easy and inexpensive to get good-quality reusable water bottles that will last for years or even DECADES before they join their non-recycled disposable brethren in the ground—or even join the 12% of the disposable ones that get recycled. Well, or some would have to be in a different kind of recycling bin because they are metal instead of plastic BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

My son is supposed to have two water bottles for school:  one for his desk, and one with his lunch.  He is also going to need two to take along on a camping trip in a few months. And I’d like to have two for myself, one for the diaper bag and one for the car.  But my experience with water bottles so far has been PITIFUL, mostly because they LEAK.  We’ve drenched lunches, backpacks, clothes.  I asked my Twitter peeps if they had a water bottle they were happy with.

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I have noticed that a little whimsy goes a long way to keep my mood good. In the kitchen I have a bird peeler and a porcupine scrub brush and a toucan can opener. In the bedroom I have a squirrel platter and a picture of owls cuddling. But on my desk I have…clutter and utility. Here are some of the things I’ve been looking at to increase the whimsy around here:

Woodpecker scissors (photo from Amazon.com).  I have a pair of these already, actually, but I’m considering a second pair because people are always stealing my scissors HELLO CHILDREN I AM TALKING TO YOU.  These cut really well (they glide through wrapping paper), but I also like that they have a lock (the tail flips up).  This lets me make the scissors safer, but also lets me, um, pose the bird.  Like, close its mouth.
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