Back to School: Kindergarten Edition

NOTE: THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS.

When I had to homeschool this past spring, I was at my wit’s end trying to juggle my corporate job on top of trying to homeschool my four-year-old. The problem wasn’t necessarily the homeschooling part– it was the fact that it took an hour for her to get her work done and then I’d need to figure things for her to do the rest of the day. I ended up downloading the PBS Kids app and the Khan Academy Kids app on my iPad and would let her play with those for a couple of hours. I also made sure she listened to a couple of stories on Khan Academy Kids each day, which was a lifesaver!

I ordered a couple of Kumon workbooks, but since my daughter is only 4, I couldn’t dedicate the time to walk her through each page, so I had to nix those from our daily schedule.

By the way, if you’re interested in which ones I bought, I have them linked here:

My daughter also loves crafting, so I let her craft whatever while I was in meetings. She had recently learned how to use scissors, so one time, while I was in a meeting, she decided to just cut up a bunch of scrap paper. When I was done with the meeting, she said, “Look Mama!” As I turned around, she threw the paper up like confetti– all over my office. *Insert face palm emoji* At that point, I didn’t even care the office was a wreck with toys, paper, crayons, and glue because I was just trying to survive juggling mom life, school life, and work life.

By the end of the school year, my daughter and I were both at our wit’s end. She was bored from cutting up a ton of scrap paper and coloring all the time, so during meetings or work, she’d try to climb all over me. I was tired of trying to figure out what to do with her plus I just felt awful that she wanted 100% of my attention and I couldn’t give it to her. Out of complete desperation, I FINALLY ended up subscribing to Disney +. This ended up being her “rest time” activity after lunch so that I could get a few things done without any interruptions. WHEW. That was a rough time!

This School Year

Honestly, if I didn’t work, I’d totally homeschool my children. The days I could dedicate time to actually teaching her, I thought it was kind of fun! ((Ya know, I was just channeling my inner Elizabeth Thatcher)) However, right now, that’s not in our cards, so we are sending both of our girls back to school very cautiously. We’ve done the research and we are extremely familiar with the school, the teachers, and the administration. And if we decide it isn’t safe anymore, we’ll pull them out and do Plan B.

I hate that all of us families are feeling the pressure of society since we all want to do what’s best for our families and our kids. Whatever it is you’ve decided to do for your family, be safe, be well, and you’ve got this!

On a happier note, my older daughter is going to KINDERGARTEN this year! She is so excited to learn all the things and make new friends and all of that good stuff that comes with kindergarten. And that just makes me so happy for her, especially considering that she is my shy, introverted mama’s girl. I asked her what she was most excited about and she said that she is most excited about the playground and the new desks. (Usually, she’d be a table, but with social distancing in place, each child will have his/her own desk.)

Usually, I’d be hitting up Target for all of the back-to-school stuff for my girl, but this year, we’re just getting our stuff on Amazon.

Our Back to School Haul

First Day of School Outfit

I bought the one navy denim dress for my older girl and the purple one for my younger girl. My younger girl is attending preschool again this year and I didn’t want her to feel left out with all of the new back to school things.

Tennis Shoes

So here’s what I ordered for my older daughter.

Here’s what I actually got.

Yeah… So apparently, kids size 11 and up no longer come with the velcro. The good thing is that it has motivated her to learn how to tie her shoes. And they are still super cute, so I am keeping them. Plus, there was such an amazing deal!

As far as my younger daughter, I feel like her feet jumped a size overnight! I went through my older daughter’s tennis shoes to see if they could be passed down, however, they were pretty beat up. I went ahead and got these Stride Rite tennis shoes. These are perfect and pink! She loves her new kicks.

BackpackS

My older daughter is using the backpack she got earlier this year, but we got that at our local Dirt Cheap before the pandemic hit and now I can’t find it anywhere. I think it’s a Cat and Jack brand backpack. With her being in Kindergarten, I’m not too worried about getting a super high-quality backpack because she won’t have any homework or any books to bring home.

My younger daughter has this adorable SkipHop backpack. This is another hand-me-down, but it is still in such great condition. Plus my younger daughter LOVES it. I highly recommend it because this one stands the test of time!

Lunchbox

My older daughter is getting hot lunch from the school and won’t need a lunch box this year. However, my younger daughter has food sensitivities, so I pack her lunch each day. We chose this lunch box for her and she loves how girly it is! We also have this Yumbox, however, I’m not sure if we are going to use it this year. We used this for my older daughter in the past, but since I now prep all the lunches for the week on Sunday, it just doesn’t make sense.

Lunch Box Ice Packs

And with a lunch box, we need some ice packs. These are perfect because they are skinny and light enough to fit into a lunch box.

Masks

And of course, we have our masks ready to go. I actually didn’t buy any from Amazon. A friend made us a couple for the girls earlier this year and then my parents bought the girls a box of disposable masks from Sam’s Club. I did find these cute ones on Amazon and figured I’d link them here. And these are perfect for school use since there are five masks for each day of the week.

That’s a wrap!

There’s our Back to School Haul 2020! I am hoping and praying everyone stays safe and healthy. It is a tricky time for all of us, so let’s stick together and support each other mamas!