Back to School Organizing-momAgenda Giveaway
Not pictured-stacks of sports calendars, medical forms and class schedules
Remember when you were a kid and back to school was so exciting?
New pencils, bus schedules, shiny new shoes….
Why didn’t anyone tell us that for moms back to school sucks?
Stacks of forms, tuition bills, sports physicals, pencils to buy…
Every year I try a new system. Every year I am convinced that my new system will mean I never miss a school play/teacher coffee/football tryout EVER AGAIN.
I have four children, they go to four different schools and participate in four very different sets of activities.
There is only one of me.
Every August I feel like a government working filling out forms and a project engineer laying out a complicated critical path schedule.
I don’t think it was this crazy for our moms. We rode the bus or walked to school, there was no multi-mom carpool organizing. Sports were run by the school, we took the late bus home, mom spent her afternoon smoking Pall Malls and catching up on Phil Donahue. See my post on “Why I Want to be a 1970′s Mom”.
This year’s hope in a bottle is the new momAgenda All in One Folio.
Features:
- 17 month calendar (if only it was made from 30 hour days)
- Important information pages-you can complete these online and print them if you’re sick of writing (and I am)
- Plastic sleeves with tabs for all of your class lists, dance class schedules, football game locations, etc., etc, etc, etc.
- A notepad in the back for keeping track of all those pesky details like when your carpool day is, or even better, cocktails with the girls/li>
Not only am I counting on this hope in a bottle to make the coming school year smooth and fabulous, I’m giving you a chance to win one of these life changing folio’s as well!
To enter:
You need to comment here on the blog and tell me your favorite back to school memory from childhood. My husband just fed ex’d me a massive box of forms to our vacation here on Kiawah Island and instead of relaxing on the beach I’m wading through endless amounts of paperwork. Let’s cheer each other up.
Speaking of, I wonder why it never occurred to him that maybe he could fill out all these forms?
Good luck, and if this doesn’t work we can always go back to smoking and ignoring them, it worked for my mom.
I received my magical new folio as part of my contract with momAgenda, I am compensated for posts and the giveaway item was provided by them as well. I am a member of the secretive and elite Council of Media Moms.
Winner will be announced on Friday August 25th.
The first day of school is always a favorite memory!
Let’s be honest its more important for Russ and Jeff to be on the links isn’t it – fathoming school forms seems so much more complicated than reading multiple putts on the links! Hope your having a great vacation!
My favorite back to school memories are the shoe shopping memories. I was always hoping that THIS would be the year Mom lets me get pink shoes. I was always hopeful, but it never happened. Black and white saddle shoes forever!
Favorite back to school memory for me was picking out the new lunchbox every year. Convinced one grandmother to bring me to Woolworth’s to pluck the last Mary Poppins one off the shelf.
I love that your husband mailed all the forms to you….very thoughtful. Mine would have just ignored them and left them for me to complete when I finally arrive home. Husbands have absolutely no idea the amount of paperwork that is involved in making sure the kids get educated. And why, oh why, for pete’s sake, can they not have online forms to just fill in and submit???
My daughter and I went back to school shopping in Charleston. Her “pink shoes’” are some ugly black boots that she is desperate for. Not gonna happen. My boys have worn saddle shoes forever, LOVE them!
We wore uniforms to school and I can remember going
To the “shop” to get sized. I loved bc it meant
No hand me downs. I got something new! even if it was a plaid
Jumper
My favorite back to school memory is buying fall clothes with my mom during the summer and insisting on wearing them on the first day of school…My parents tried everything to convince me otherwise but I would hear nothing of it.. I was good g to wear those clothes! I remember wearing a Shetland wool sweater with a turtleneck and Levi’s corduroys on the first day in 90 degree weather! By 10:00 I went to the school nurse and called home for some cooler change of clothing…I remembered my mom dropping them off to school with that “I told you so” look that only mothers and daughters share.
That is hilarious!
No one went to private school where I grew up, I always thought uniforms were so fancy and exotic. There’s something about my boys’ uniforms that still thrills me (but not them)
My favorite memory was the year I won a back to school contest at Marshall Fields and got to have lunch and attend a back to school fashion show with Brooke Shields. Awesome in 1985!
OMG, I spent years trying to grow her bushy eyebrows, I kind of still am, that is SO cool!
This wold be so perfect. I always looked forward to picking out a new appointment calendar. I felt so important writing in my class schedule and homework assignments…..
Maybe I would have been a better student with a fancy planner instead of worrying about which shade of blue eyeshadow would wow the boys.
My favorite back to school memories are the pictures my Mom always took of my sisters and I in our new school clothes. They all are taken in front of the garage door for some reason that I don’t understand (maybe she thought it was a nice back drop of white). I now take first day of school pictures of my daughters and cried this year because my oldest is graduating and my youngest is in high school. So happy I carried on my Mom’s tradition so that I have these memories to view and cry over whenever needed.
My favorite memory was back to school clothes shopping with my mom. We made a day out of it with lunch somewhere fun. She always helped me pick out perfect little outfits.
First day of school
Ok, that made me want to cry. I really wish they would invent that stop growing pill!!
My favorite memory was walking to school with my mom!
My fave back to school memory? Wearing my best new outfit on the first day.
My favorite memory is going shopping and buying a new box of colors and a pair of scissors when I already had like 5 of them at home from prior years
My favorite back to school memory is my dad waiting for the bus with me on the first day. When I got old enough to be embarrassed by it, he would hide behind a tree!
My favorite back to school memories are of going clothes shopping with my mom and wearing the new clothes to school. Also the smells of fall and new erasers somehow go together!
I am a military brat. My favorite memory was my first day of seventh grade. Despite moving that summer to a new state I was super excited because my dad retired from the Air Force and I knew I would be going to the same school for awhile. At least until high school lol. But it was still a nice change.
My favorite back to school memory would be when I moved to a brand new school in the 4th grade. Walked in with my big buck teeth, purple glasses and frizzy poofy hair. I knew no one and was so shy. My mom and dad waited with me as long as they could and started to leave. They made it no further than their car and I came running out. Of course, I had to go back but wow, what and entrance
everything turned out fine and I ended up loving my teacher and making lots of friends. Its one of my fav stories to tell my kiddos now.
My favorite memory of back to school was the year I learned to negotiate! I told my mom that I wanted to shop for what I like as long as it was within her budget! It worked
My favorite back to school memory was picking out all the new school supplies including a new lunch box & backpack!
My favorite back to school memory is buying new clothes for school and the smell of Fall.
I’ve always loved the school supply shopping! new paper, pencils, getting new textbooks…it all comes back to me as the new year starts!
My first day of school memory..shopping for the perfect outfits to plan the week..being picked up at lunchtime..having a special lunch at home (cooked by my mom, resting and then returning back to school) then meeting her on the playground afterschool and walking home with the neighbors..we use to half an hour for lunch ..
My first day of school memories include….new school clothes, excitement of seeing all my friends, finding out who my teachers were and of course a looking forward to a FULL year of learning new things
My favorite back to school memory was buying new crayons (still love a box of unused crayons) and paste (the one in the jar with a plastic “spreader”…. Those were the days!
Nothing feels better than back to school shopping
And buying that new outfit and shoes that made you run
Faster and the bag that you carried all your supplies!
Walking two blocks to school with my big brother or yelling
At him on way home to wait up, but feeling good about your
Self at that age was the pageant queen crown
1St grade. Hair cut in Dorothy Hamill kinda of way. I’m missing my two front teeth and for some reason mom thought it was OK for me to wear a sweater with a hamburger and French fries on it. My name oz Toni. It took me a weeks worth of being told what a cute boy I was before I had enough courage to let them know I’m a girl.
My favorite memory is how I always promised myself every year that it would be the one that I got really good grades!
My favorite memory for back to school was seeing all of my friends that I missed over the summer. I loved walking down the halls in my new clothes and catching up!
Purchasing school supplies and getting organized.
My favorite memories always involve shopping for school supplies. There was something so great about brand new notebooks and binders. Like a clean slate. Still love school supply shopping for my kids!
Playing Kiss Chase on the playground and losing my tooth in Kindergarten! Swapping love notes from one friend to the next to the next…finally to the boy (only to find out he starts to like the last friend who gave him my secret admirer note!)…the list goes on!
Favorite memory: what my lunch was going to be: either tuna on white bread with lettuce or bologna with cheese and mayo and mustard with fritos and a Devil Dog…. Everything in moderation!
God this is embarrassing – wearing really high heels in high school (maybe grade 11?) so the guy I had a crush on would drive me home.
Taking the day off after kid #1 left for Kindergarten….to take care of my poor hubby, who was a sobbing mess!
My favorite memory was going shopping for a new outfit specially for the first day. We were not allowed to wear it until that first day. Even for my 9 years of teaching, I always bought a new outfit for the first day bc of those fantastic memories. I’ve already started that tradition with my boys for mother’s day out & now my oldest for his first day of kindergarten!!
When I was a child my best friend came over super early, like 6am early. She rang our door bell and woke up the whole house, she had apples for my sister and I (for our teachers). She meant well, but we were all cranky! I remember my mom being tired and could not believe she did that, but now that I look back, I was one of my favorite first days of school. Peace, Jessica Harris
My favorite memories of beginning school involve clothes shopping with my sister and mom. My sister is a little more head-strong than I am, so I would wait for her to pick out what she wanted and then I would settle for the same outfits. Needless to say, she was also a fashionista at 4 year old, so some of the outfits were a bit wild. After functioning like this for a couple more years, we were free to dress in our own style. I started buying the drab, dull colors that you could match with anything. But my precious sister went on with her style experiments and usually shocked us all. Those were the days. I would give anything to be dressed like my sister again.
Favorite back to school memory is wearing a new outfit picked out especially for the first day of school!
I loved laying out my first day of school outfit the night before, making a person on the floor, shoes and all!!
My favorite memory was the year that we were “old” enough to walk the 2 blocks to school by ourselves. All the kids on our block were within a few years of each other, so the first year that the youngest ones were old enough was the year that we ALL got to go. Rolling 13 kids deep 2 blocks to school made us feel soooo “cool.”
My favorite back to school memory is buying all my shiny new school supplies with my mom! My favorite memory now is seeing the same excitement in my childrens’ faces when we buy their back-to-school supplies!
My favorite memory was picking up my schedule of classes and walking the halls to find each one and then decorating the inside of my hall locker.
My favorite memory was my dad packing my lunch – it was always a sandwich, a drink and a ton of junk food! Nothing I would let my own girls load up on now, but as a kidit was a sugar paradise!
My favorite back to school memory is school clothes shopping with my mom. I remember being devastated after the first day when I realized none of the clothes I’d chosen were “right” (I was very preppy, think monogrammed sweaters and wide-wale corduroys), and I’d already spent my entire clothing “budget”.
My favorite childhood memory was I could always look forward to a wonderful sit down cooked breakfast. I am one of 13 children, let’s be honest, my Mom was VERY LIMITED on time.
Almost every other day of the year we were running out the door.
I loved getting to choose my outfit for the first day of school. I would agonize over it and by the night before school I was so excited I couldn’t even sleep.
My favorite memory was my lunchbox. My mom always made my lunch and she always wrote notes on my napkins. Now I make my childrens lunch and write notes on their napkins!
My fav part was all the new fresh supplies..I loved the new crayons and new paints! And I always wanted a trapper keeper..even tho it didn’t even fit in our desks!! Lol
My favorite back to school memory was decorating my Assignment notebook (a Chandler) with my favorite clippings from magazines and pictures of me and my friends. It was the equivalent of a portable bedroom wall with less thumbtacks and more tape. One year I dedicated the front cover to Michael Jordan (my first celebrity crush)!
My favorite back to school memory is from when I starting 6th grade. I was so thrilled to be going to Middle School, with the big kids. As a back-to-school present my mom got me an awesome red leather (really small) coach purse. I thought it couldn’t get better than that!
My favourite thing about going back to school was always the new notebooks and pens. To this day, there is nothing better than a good pen, and a fresh notebook – I try to keep it neat and I love organizing! i think that Mom Agenda has some of the best products for staying neat and organized!
I remember the smell of the new books and supplies as we put them in our cubbies in elementary school. I used to love the first day of school!
I loved going back to school as a kid – many great feelings more that exact memories. I especially loved walking to school with my oldest brother and remember thinking his legs were crazy-long and trying so hard to keep up with him.
Now, I do have a great memory of going back to school as an adult. I was newly divorced from a guy that did not want me to further my education. (and I almost stayed with him) I had two little ones. Going back to school was SO exciting for me. I remember the feeling of freedom “I can DO something in and for this world!”
Well said KM. I’m going to buy mine now. Can’t wait for the give away I need to start organizing today.
buying school supplies is my favourite memory
BUYING SCHOOL SUPPLIES IS MY FAVORITE MEMORY
My favorite memory of school, was walking into 2nd grade and seeing my first ever school desk. Until then we had always sat at tables with 3 or 4 other kids. I felt so grown up. My oldest just started 1st grade and he is at a table again this year. He keeps asking me when he gets a grown up desk. Makes me smile!
Shopping for new clothes and shoes-always exciting!!
We had desks in Kindergarten and I remember thinking I was SO grown up!
Good for you! Your kids must be so proud of you, what a great comment, thank you.
Ok, nothing better than a red purse, ever.
My favorite memory is the first day of school picture. I hated them back then, but it’s so fun to look through them and see how my brother and I changed though the years. And to see just how BIG my hair could go!!
I do the same thing. Sometimes my kids pretend they are embarrassed (I did it to my middle schooler this year) but I know inside that they feel loved.
OMG, I am all done feeling sorry for myself trying to make breakfast for four.
You sound exactly like my daughter.
I never liked school clothes shopping, but school SUPPLY shopping was a different story! Every year, I loved to walk through the aisles of notebooks, pens and backpacks, picking my treasures. Even now, I could spend an hour walking around an office supply store! lol
My Dad would go into work late on our first day of school. He would take us out for breakfast before we went to school. I treasure those memories of special time spent with my Dad.
I know, Staples still gives me a thrill. How sad is that?
I’m totally pitching my husband on this idea, so sweet.
Favorite childhood memory? Playing “time tunnel” in the tube slide at recess. So fun.
Definitely the school clothes shopping and I still love it with my kids!
favorite back to school moment~not many as we moved every two years~alas I have a sister one year younger than myself and she and I would meet up at our first break or lunch just to tell each other how this school works.
But I do remember begging my mom for these shoes I thought were soo cool…which would have been in my “old school crowd” in Los Angeles. But this was my first year back in the boonies and I didn’t know that birkenstocks and the hippy chick thang was the current rage. I wore them one day and refused to ever wear them again. Needless to say, my mom said no to the 75 dollar birkenstocks saying I would change my mind again. But I did steal my brothers button down shirts and cords to wear to try and fit in…until the trend turned to county western denim skirts~egads~
My favorite back to school memory… Back to school clothes for my mid-August birthday! I loved getting pretty and hotly new things to wear! Funny thing is I went to Catholic school so I’m not sure why I got so excited as my school friends never got to see my ‘back-to-school clothes’!
Back to school shopping for new clothes was my favorite!!
Going and buying my school uniform and collecting my timetable on the first day and finding my best friend was in my class.
My favorite back to school memory was the planning part of going back. Everything from new clothes to new tablets & pencils. I loved then (and still do) the long lists of supplies that I needed and checking them off as they were bought. I am wondering how my mom did it before Walmart ever existed. Maybe Woolworths?
Sadly, I no longer need a MomAgenda…my youngest is leaving for college in a week! Please check out my new blog – http://www.youmaybewandering.com – I love to travel and this is my “empty nest” project. I just discovered your blog and am loving it! Thanks!!
My favorite back to school memory was the planning part of going back. Everything from new clothes to new tablets & pencils. I loved then (and still do) the long lists of supplies that I needed and checking them off as they were bought. I am wondering how my mom did it before Walmart ever existed. Maybe Woolworths?
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I love Mom Agengas! I used to get them yearly, but haven’t in the last couple of years due to financial issues. They are seriously wonderful organizational tools. Love this giveaway.
My favorite back to school memory is picking out my first day outfit and buying notebooks. Deliciously empty pages just waiting to be filled with info.
I remember my mom taking me shopping for clothes when I was getting ready for the 5th grade. It’s the first time I really remember shopping and picking out everything for myself. I picked out this ridiculous outfit and was sooo excited to wear it the first day. My mom tried to talk me out of it but when I stuck to it she just supported and commended me on being a “unique soul” I’ have been and will always be just that. It was the first time I remember being proud of not fitting in.
My favorite memory was riding to school with my dad, singing “Great Big Gobs of Greasy Grimey Gopher Guts.” I’m sure you can imagine how excited my Mom was to hear of our newest learning adventure with Dad.
My favorite back to school memory is reuniting with old friends and meeting new ones. I was a shy, reserved girl and I didn’t have many friends, so, seeing the ones I did have was awesome. And getting to know their new friends was great. We didn’t have the luxury of the internet to keep in touch, so it was good to see them again.
Long before I was a VT farmgirl I was a NH farmgirl and my favorite back to school memory was sewing my back to school outfit with my mom every year. For third grade I sewed my outfit by myself. I totally rocked that jean skirt. It was white jean with a neon orange and pink print (it was the 80s). And just as a bonus my most embarrassing back to school memory was my first day of private school (7th grade) where halfway thru morning prayer I realized my uniform skirt was on backwards.
My favorite was school supplies. I loved them. I still do!
I love you Nas. I love that you can sew, I love that you would also choose such an awesome print, and I know I would also end up with a backward skirt. You couldn’t PAY me to go back to middle school.
My favorite thing was always shopping for back to school supplies – and going to open house and visiting all my old teachers. I was pretty dorky
I remember after clothes shopping, trying on all of my new clothes for my family, like a little fashion show. I loved being able to wear my new clothes, picking out my 1st day back to school outfit. I always loved getting to see all of my friends again. I also loved that it meant Fall was here, my favorite time of year.
My favorite back to school memory is my walk to school on that first day. I loved the smell of the air and the site of the leaves that were just begining to change. I loved how fresh and new everything was, my backpack, paper, pencils, etc. I always felt excitement, anticipation and hope which I still feel each fall even after all these years.
Buying that Fall issue of “Seventeen” magazine and imagining that new outfit that would finally get Kurt Vanderwell to notice me.
. I’m quite serious.
OMG, you crack me up. My Kurt was an Iaian, and he’s now a Facebook friend. I feel like I got noticed in the end, it just took 30 years. Where is Kurt now??
This is a woderful blog and I like the fact you made your own sweepstakes here. Awesome idea. As an organizer I know the importance of being organized when going back to school, for both the ids and the adults, otherwise school time can be overwhelming!
I’ll have to add your blog to my Google RSS feed.
Love the name Chaos Commandos-awesome site!