Question of the Week - Class is in Session

I'm so excited for my daughter to start at the Montessori school tomorrow! Wait... tomorrow? YIKES! I'm not ready! Hopefully she is ready. At least mentally and emotionally, because I don't have any of her things ready to go with her.

I was going to take her out to get school supplies this weekend, but the Pookie got sick on Friday afternoon so we stayed in pretty much all weekend. Plus I don't even know what she'll need. I feel like I should know, but juggling one sick kid and one kid with pent-up energy has kept me from checking any school lists and ready all the back-to-school information. Tonight is Back To School night, though, so hopefully they will tell me everything I need to know with enough for me to run by a store and pick up last minute things for the first day.

Luckily, the first day on Tuesday is a half day, so I've been figuring we can go together to the store in the afternoon and get anything she needs. I do love shopping for school supplies! It's almost as much fun as shopping for office supplies. Am I right?

Between the Pumpkin starting at a real pre-school and two of my cousins each having a daughter starting college, my head is totally in school stuff. So this week's question of the week is:

What is your favorite aspect of getting ready to start school in the fall? This could be for yourself when you were younger or for your kids.

I think my favorite back-to-school activity was going shopping with my mom for fall/school clothes (which I still haven't done for my kids!). At the end of every summer, she would take us to get new clothes to start the school year. Even the years when my parents didn't have much money, she would save up and we'd look for sales to buy clothes that fit our growing bodies. Those clothes would have to last through the fall and winter seasons, because we didn't usually go clothes shopping again until late spring/early summer to get shorts, t-shirts and bathing suits. And I relished the opportunity to pick out a wardrobe for the school year.

I also loved (and still love) to pick out school/office supplies. All those pens, pencils, notebooks, scissors, papers, post-it notes... and don't forget the backpacks and lunch boxes!

So, what did you like about getting ready for the school year? Was it seeing your friends again? Picking classes when you were an older kid? Doing that fall shopping? Or do you get more pleasure getting your kids all ready? Organizing areas for school bags or homework? Helping them pick out their first-day-of-school outfit? Simply getting them out of the house so you can have some peace and quiet?