CAMP is officially over. Only one week lost to quarantine out of 6 = not too terrible, though does not necessarily bode well for the school year.
But all that aside — we received school supply lists yesterday! I can’t deny it, this got me excited. School starts (for us) August 17-18 (Annabel has new student orientation the 17th but first real day is the 18th).
While mask drama has been distracting, I am determined not to let it suck all the joy from the start of this school year.
Backpacks were not allowed last year (for vague germ-related reasons — I guess significant fomite transmission was still in question then?) but this year they are. So G just picked out her first one (shown above). I also just ordered an extra lunch bag + water bottle – mostly our current stash is fine but there have been some casualties to the Lost and Found gods.
Back to School To Do List:
❏ Order uniforms (hopefully today)
❏ Reorganize clothes bins downstairs to contain primarily uniform items
✔︎ Get any needed backpack + lunch bag supplies
❏ Remind big kids of back-to-school reading assignments . . .
❏ Buy rest of school supplies (probably mostly target, I want kids to pick out ‘live’ and not just order from the big A). The lists are actually fairly reasonable in length, hooray!
❏ Get shoes for kids (sneakers x 2 – school requires extra pair to keep at school for their gym)
❏ Sports physical forms/yearly appt for A (scheduled but has not yet occurred; the other kids went earlier this year and are up to date)
That’s mostly it, I think!
PS: Tomorrow is National Planner Day!!! So much love for my current functional stack and the many fabulous planner options out there!
16 Comments
I am so excited to know that tomorrow is Planner Day. Coincidentally I am starting my first ever planner from tomorrow. I always planned on random rough papers, but after following your blog, and BLP for so long, I finally took the plunge into the proper Planner world. I also started watching Amanda’s favorites based on your recommendation, and I love that too.
I am so excited about my new planner. I re-listened your podcast episodes about Qunitile,Monthly, weekly and daily planning and made by monthly goals list … I am also practicing some simple doodles, it’s a fun world and I am glad I joined it, albeit quite late.
I am so excited for you! Which planner are you trying?!
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B08LSGD2V7/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_glt_i_WFWNHBD8WV3CQ3D0Y8HZ?psc=1
It’s a planner called Find Your Balance. It is an undated daily planner for 4 months. Each day has two pages, one for planning, another for reflecting back on the day. I wanted a planner + journal combo, and this was a perfect fit. The planner also has a monthly page, mood and habit tracker 🙂
Ooh that was my first ever visit to Amazon India! That looks very cool and has a unique look + layout!!
Thank you 😊
I am starting a new planner tomorrow, too, and so far I am really disappointed. I was so excited this spring to buy and try the Simplified Daily planner…but like you mentioned, Sarah, I’m really disliking how big it is. Like, huge. I’m coming from years of doing my own layouts in Leuchtturm 1917 notebook. I wanted the pre-printed monthly calendar and the ability to pre-plan out past the current week but also like you, I really don’t like the split weekend or the notes embedded on Sunday to do’s.
The worst part is that this was a splurge for me (it’s not cheap!) and I feel pretty disappointed to have spent my planner budget on one I don’t see myself using. I think I’m going to try it anyhow in august but honestly see myself just using my bullet journal for the rest of the year and maybe trying again in January with a different product? But after this experience I feel like I don’t even know what my needs or wants are (since I thought this planner would be it!!) Anyhow—I’m seriously bummed and I thought you and others here may be able to relate!
I am sorry to know that 😞 I am a planner newbie so I don’t have great ideas about this. However, I can suggest that you watch videos of the planner you are interested in, at Amanda’s favorites. They are quite in detail, she flips through all the pages, and discusses what she likes and what isn’t pleasing to her. That might give you a better idea before your next buy.
Meanwhile, I would suggest you keep trying out your new planner to experiment what are the things you really want or do not want in a planner. Or if you REALLY dislike it, maybe you could give it away to a friend who might like to experiment.
I’m so sorry!!! I honestly felt the same way. I’m not even going to try to use it. I was enticed by how pretty it was, but honestly for me it’s not the functional solution I need (mostly because of the size and the weekends). I simply do not need to carry around an entire year’s worth of dailies, either!!
I agree with Mrs. Candid that maybe trying to use it will help you figure out what you DO want in a system. (And if you want a compact daily the one I am using is much much cheaper – $20 – if that helps.)
Thank you both so much! I will mull over if it’s worth my trying it so I can pick better for a January start with something else, or perhaps just continue my bullet journal for now.
Sarah, I’ve been looking at your past posts but I can’t find the one where you shared which one is your current dailies? And do you also have another for monthly planning (an Erin Condren I think?) Do you mind sharing again which one(s) you are using?
I currently use (as of just like ~10 days ago!)
https://honeypress-nc.com/collections/planners/products/undated-study-daily-planner
plus an Erin Condren Life Planner (hourly) https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/sarahhartunger/1 (referral)
Before the little daily above, I was using (and used up!) a Full Focus which I also love: https://fullfocusstore.com/?aff=546 (referral)
Thank you, Sarah! 🙂
School supplies are so fun! Our school lets you buy the supplies package through the PTA and it’s waiting for you on the first day. Soon enough my first grader will probably figure out that we can shop ourselves to get some variety and I will definitely indulge her! I have distinct memories of shopping and organizing and labeling with my mom 🙂
Random, but you mentioned a really good pencil sharpener you bought for your home a while back…if you’re still happy with it, can you link it?
This one: https://www.amazon.com/X-ACTO-School-Classroom-Electric-Sharpener/dp/B00006IEI4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=DZ4G1TOTQ3YV&dchild=1&keywords=x-acto%2Bpro%2Belectric%2Bpencil%2Bsharpener&qid=1627830860&sprefix=x-acto%2Bpro%2B%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-1&th=1
Still going strong, according to amazon purchased in 2017! (And that’s with frequent kid use/abuse . . .)
Both my kids schools do PTA lead school supplies (private school does $30 fee for the year, public school does donation based). I miss picking out supplies but I understand why they do it (it’s an equity thing for the public school).
Sadly we do not have that PTA option this year!
Our parochial school is between $50-80 depending on the K-5 grade level…now I’m wondering if that’s a lot of $$$! But with only one kiddo I can’t really buy in bulk and divide up so PTA is probably is the right option. Plus the lists are SO specific right down to the brand that it takes all the variety out of it. The rule follower in me would probably scour multiple stores and still have to amazon the stragglers that are hard to find!