Monthly Musings: Back to School Prep-- July 2022

 I almost didn't join up with Monthly Musings this month since our back to school prep is always all over the place.  Not having done much the "traditional" way with my boys growing up our back to school prep is pretty non-existent most years. 

Having one kid working full time while taking just one course at the community college this fall the only back to school prep Ian needs is my credit card to buy his book before his online class starts.  

Having another kid that's homeschooling high school; the only back to school prep we needed was to pick out his curriculum and books which we did back in May (you can read that post here).  No other special supplies or clothing needed! 

SO I guess I'll mostly answer these questions with Alec's schooling in mind since he's my only boy who has ever been to school in a more traditional setting.  A junior at a local technical high school, Alec is enrolled in their culinary program and has a mix of culinary days and traditional class days... and yet his schooling seems nothing like what school was like when I was growing up!

1. How do you get organized for the school year?  I try to just make sure both Alec and I know which days he's in which rotation (culinary or academics) so we have the right supplies ready and I have been teaching him to prepare and pack as much as he can the night before for the past couple of years.  Other than that I'm pretty hands off and don't feel the need to get anything organized. I organized his closet by uniform years ago so everything is right there to grab and go.

The first row of hanging organizers holds his culinary uniform pieces, the second row is academic uniform and gym uniform, then the last row that is new this year is his serving/waiter uniform. 

2. Favorite places to shop for back to school clothes? Alec has 2 uniform companies we use for 99% of his clothes-- Darter for his academic uniform of chino pants, polo shirts, and gym uniform and a local uniform company for his culinary/ serving uniform.  The serving uniform is new for Junior year since he gets to work in the school's restaurant this year. I do buy his aprons, bow tie, and some pants off Amazon when I can find them (though he's a 32 waist and needs a 36 inseam so they're pretty nonexistent in any brand). 

academics

culinary

3. Do you meal plan? Favorite back to school meals? We meal plan year round and eat mostly the same things most months so there is no big back to school gathering of menu items.  

4. What are your kids favorite things about back to school? Alec loves the social aspect of school so he's always most excited about seeing his friends and teachers and checking out his new schedule/ classes.  This year the chef from the kitchen/ restaurant side of the business retired so we're all anxious to see who the school got to replace him as Alec's teacher this year.  I'm kind of hopeful that his baking teacher will move up with them and then they'll have had the same teacher all 4 years.  (In his school Freshman and Sophomores work in the bakery with one chef while Juniors and Seniors run an actual restaurant with another chef).

5. Best place for school supplies? Alec has only ever needed a pencil and his notebook.  I don't think we've ever bought any other school supplies since nearly 100% of his work is done on the school supplied Chromebook.  I just bought a 6 pack of one subject notebooks off Amazon and a box of mechanical pencils his Freshman year and we're still using them!!

6. Any first day of school traditions? Nope;  we did celebrate a few "not back to school" beach/ park/ field trip days with our homeschooling group.  With Alec only having had 2 first day of school's  I struggling just to even remember to snap a quick photo (and honestly I only remembered Freshman year). This year he's driving so I won't be bringing him to school or picking him up so our routine will change once again.

Not back to school day at the Ecotarium with our friends

Often our first day of school focused on games on fun (if we didn't have field trips planned)

Not back to school day at the park

7. Best lunchbox tip? Since Alec began high schooling he took over packing all his own lunches.  I try to make sure we have plenty of food he likes prepped and ready to go for him when I can. 

8. Buy lunch? Bring lunch? Both? Alec packs a lunch every single day, but will occasionally buy foods from the bakery or eat food they're prepping in the kitchen if he's in culinary rotation that day/week.  He has never eaten school lunch-- though he did have to serve school lunch to the rest of the kids a few times last year. 

9. Does school start before or after Labor Day where you live? Usually just a few days before-- this year we start school on the 30th of August. 

10. Best money saving tips for back to school? We really lucked out this year since Alec still fits into all of his uniforms from last year.  Other than a few new items for his serving uniform I didn't have to buy much of anything.  He's also using the same back pack, lunch box, track bag, etc. so we were lucky! 

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