I am slowly coming out of my “Back-to-School Blues”! I can definitely tell everyone in our town is starting to adopt a back-to-school mentality. The pools are less crowded and several of my friends have commented about bedtimes being pushed back. Also, I don’t know about you, but I have been inundated with back-to-school ads and mailings.

As, Bug (my daughter) prepares to go back to school, I got to thinking about my school years and back-to-school preps. Mom always took us to buy our school supplies, but there are a few special purchases I remember. I remember my first lunch box. It was purple and had the Jetsons on it! I also remember that the thermos leaked the first day and I didn’t have anything to drink. I remember when I was allowed to get my first Trapper Keeper! Yes, I am dating myself!! I remember that your whole goal was to have the coolest Trapper Keeper in the class. A Trapper Keeper wasn’t about organization, but about “school style”. Oh…the memories of years past.

One of the biggest traditions my mom and I had, was shopping for a new back-to-school outfit. My mom and I would make a day of it. It was kind of like our last mother-daughter bonding experience of the summer. I cringe to think about the number of hours we spent shopping (especially for jeans). I would try on no less than 20 pairs before I would find one that fit. Being tall and having a short-waist is a challenge. Mom would also take me somewhere special to eat. Every year, I looked forward to our time together. To this day, my mom is still my biggest shopping buddy.

So that tradition is continuing in our house. I don’t buy Bug a tremendous amount of new clothes. Most of her wardrobe comes from an annual consignment sale. I purchase the items and bring them home to her. Now that she is getting older, I thought it would be fun to take her on a shopping excursion and purchase something new for the first day. When I told Bug what we were going to do, she got so excited.

So off to the mall we went. One of the children’s stores was having a great sale, so I felt confident we would find something at a great price. When we walked in, I told Bug to point out a few things that she liked. She walked the store and pointed to a few dresses (not practical for preschool). I told her she probably needed to pick out shorts and a t-shirt. Well she found a pair of shorts that she just loved!!!! Unfortunately, they didn’t have them in her size. After she made a few more selections, we headed to the fitting room. Bug thought this was a “big-ole-deal”. She would try on each outfit and then model it in front of the mirror. This is where I failed as a mom, I forgot my camera!! I loved watching her little eyes lit up with each outfit.

We finally decided on an appropriate outfit (that was majorly on sale). Bug was so excited that she got to pick out her own clothes. I was getting ready to pay for the shorts and t-shirt, when Bug spotted a matching headband! I told her we didn’t need another headband, but she immediately began pointing out how well it matched and that it would complete her outfit. What can I say, it was on sale too. Needless to say, I caved to my little fashionista, her argument was too good. I know it was awful, but we don’t normally indulge Bug like this. This was a special trip and she knew that.

After we went shopping, we decided to split a pretzel and strawberry lemonade. Overall, we had a great back-to-school shopping experience. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of shopping and spending time together.

I hope when Bug is an adult, she looks back on these special times and smiles. I know I have a ton of special memories with my mom and I am truly thankful for them. So here is to carrying on the tradition and making memories with Bug!

Do you have any special back-to-school memories or traditions? I would love to hear about them.