I can hardly believe that in some parts of the country school is starting up again. I'm so not ready for summer vacation to be over! No matter where or how your kids are educated, it's back-to-school time in the retail world, and you can find really great sales on school supplies. I just purchased thirty notebooks from Walmart at 15¢ apiece, as well as markers, gluesticks and glue, and a few other odds and ends. We don't need them for going back to school, but we will need them eventually, and I won't be able to find prices like these in January!

Call me a meanie, but I don't take the kids shopping for supplies. If they don't see those fancy folders with horses or butterflies or puppies, they'll never realize just how much they "need" to have them. We do plain folders, notebooks, and binders. My kids have become very creative at decorating them with scrapbook paper, stickers, contact paper, etc. if they wish. Those hard-backed composition books make beautiful sturdy journals when they're covered in scrapbook paper . . . and last year I found them on sale at 5 for $1.00. So . . . leave the kids home if you can.

It will be interesting to see just how well retailers do this back-to-school season. Even though families have cut back over all, I wonder just how much back-to-school sales will be affected. It's hard for moms, especially, to feel like their kids have to "do without" all the bells and whistles that our culture has come to associate with the annual back-to-school phenomenon.

Since my family homeschools, we don't "need" new backpacks, shoes, clothes, and a full list of supplies every August. It definitely takes the pressure off! We do still eat lunches though . . . and pack lunches to take to our co-op classes. Here are a few tips that have worked for us.
I don't buy a lot of cold cuts as I find they are expensive and not that healthy. But my husband does like sandwiches. When I buy cold cuts on sale, I freeze them on a cookie sheet in individual stacks--like a couple of slices of ham with salami, cheese . . . whatever combination he'll be using in a sandwich. Once they're frozen they all go in a bag or container with a piece of waxed paper between each stack. When it's time to make a sandwich he can just pull out a single stack, and put it right between the buttered bread with some lettuce and whatever condiments he wants. It saves time and prevents any expensive cold cuts from spoiling before they are used up.

Frequently I'll take a small crockpot along to our homeschool co-op for a hot lunch. When I make sloppy joes, chili, soups, etc., I always make big batches and freeze any leftovers. I use small containers to package up yogurt, canned or fresh fruit, or other snacks into single servings for each child. A couple of years ago I invested in a couple of Fit & Fresh Lunch on the Go container sets, and we've used them over and over again.

Even when we're going to be home all day, I try to plan ahead for lunch. It's so much easier than scrambling around trying to figure out what to eat when everyone is hungry! Sometimes we boil some eggs ahead for egg salad, or leave out something from the freezer, or make up a batch of muffins. It's part of our school day--learning and planning to eat properly.