By: Mindy Stone

It’s hard to believe back-to-school is upon us. If your child is like my 8-year old daughter, she looks forward to picking out her school supplies, lunch box and backpack every year. But this year is unlike any other. I find myself ordering personalized name labels to label her supplies because they won’t be sharing things in the classroom this year. My children have not been in a store for months, but after many weeks of begging, I finally took my daughter into Target for the first time since mid-March to pick out her school supplies.  She was overwhelmed with excitement. She took a detour through the toy section and wanted every Barbie doll and accessory for her Our Generation doll she could find.  In the school supply section, she went with a color theme -- a purple pencil box, purple folder and purple ruler.  I found myself buying double of certain supplies. One set for school and the other set to keep at home as my daughter is one of many students preparing for the hybrid model. She will do two days of in-person learning and three days of remote learning. The thought of sending her back into a classroom during this global pandemic is a tough decision no matter how you slice it.  

Whether your child is returning to in-person attendance, remote learning or a hybrid plan, it’s important to make back-to-school fun and exciting!  We’ve found backpacks are an essential part of returning to school no matter where the learning takes place. Picking the right backpack for my daughter was really important as she will be carrying more things than normal, such as her tablet, workbooks and other supplies, back and forth to school. When she picked out her unicorn backpack, it brought that familiar excitement to this season while also ensuring she has what she needs to help her transition each day through her school week.

This school year is going to be different, and while I am nervous to send my daughter back to school after having her home with us for the past five months, I’m excited for her to get back into a school routine.  I’m going to encourage her to use her new backpack as an organizational tool. She will be responsible for her own books and supplies being kept in one central location rather than all over the house. Having an organized bag will make school life easier even at home.