Tag Archives: back-to-school

Stylish and Affordable Back to School Notebooks Sent Straight to Your Door

The time for school shopping is here again, and we’re all combing over those long lists of very specific supplies we need for our kids. Sure, they all need their standard-issue marble composition books, but wouldn’t it be nice to get them something special to write in, as an added treat? My friend designed these fun and affordable soft cover back to school notebooks available on Amazon that will suit the most random and obscure interests of just about any kid (or adult!) Plus, they get delivered straight to your door! Click on the affiliate links for more details for each notebook.
Stylish and Affordable Back to School Notebooks You Need and Want for Preschool all the way up to College! Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Check out this sampling of what you can find there, starting with your littlest learners and going all the way up to college. One thing to note: the term “composition notebook” can mean various sizes on Amazon and isn’t limited to the small dimensions of the marble-covered books with the sewn binding. All of the books here, except the planner, are 8.5 x 11 in. in size.

Let’s start with the little ones!

Draw and Write Books for K-2 kids:

These full size notebooks contain creative writing paper. Each page has space at the top for a title, a picture box for the drawing an illustration and then five lines for writing, each consisting of two lines (top and bottom) 0.65″ apart and a dotted line in the center to help beginners stay on track with their letter sizing.

Owls Draw and Write Notebook

Whales Draw and Write Notebook

Primary Composition Books for K-2 kids:

These notebooks contain just handwriting paper. It has nine double lines on each page with a dotted line down the middle, intended to help beginners learn to proportion their letters.

Dinosaur Primary Composition Notebook

Monster Fun Primary Composition Notebook

Wide ruled for older elementary school kids:

Once they’ve learned to proportion letters, most older elementary school kids just need a wide ruled notebook. They would love one of these.

Unicorn Wide Ruled Notebook

Hedgehog Wide Ruled Notebook

College ruled for teens and adults:

High school and college kids love to express their personalities through their school supplies. Whether they prefer florals and butterflies or quirky antique celestial charts, there’s a notebook here they’ll love.

Birds of a Feather College Ruled Notebook

Butterfly Bliss College Ruled Notebook

Sophisticated Floral College Ruled Notebook

Celestial Unicorn College Ruled Notebook

For students who need both college ruled and graph paper in an economics class

Lastly, a planner!

Multitasker Octopus Planner

Who says you have to start your weekly planner in January?We all know back-to-school is the unofficial beginning of the year and the start of new habits. This 6 x 9 in. undated planner will appeal to someone who has a sense of humor and a lot of tasks and goals to keep track of. It even includes an internet password page at the end.

Good luck in the new school year!

Ellen

So cute and Fun! Stylish and Affordable Back to School Notebooks You Need and Want for Preschool all the way up to College! Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

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My Feelings About Back to School Are Wildly Unpopular With the Internet

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My Feelings About Back to School Are Wildly Unpopular with the Internet | Parenting | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

I am in a funk, a melancholy, a fog of stone-cold dread. I really need someone to stroke my hair and whisper sweet comforts in my ear, but I can’t ask for commiseration, or even a cookie, for fear of sounding sanctimonious. You see, while pictures of moms jumping for joy and toasting the camera in celebration of the first day of school are flooding my Facebook and Instagram feeds; I just want to eat a pound of the snickerdoodles no one is offering me because I DREAD THE START OF SCHOOL.

There, I said it. And if you’re Team Jump for Joy, it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. I’m glad you’re happy! I would fart glitter over your joy if it wasn’t so environmentally unsound. I understand why parents are ready for their spawn to go back because we all need five. minutes. to. ourselves. for the love of all that is good and wholesome.

And the whining, oh my goodness, the whining. It’s too hot to shove them outside, and if you have to referee one more cage match over the iPad, you’re going to go Amish. Camps have almost bankrupted you and you can’t escape your kids’ grubby paws long enough to do a load of laundry, let alone lounge with a novel.

See? I get it. No pitchfork poking or torch wielding necessary. But I am in mourning over school starting, and I want to stop feeling like a freak about it. Here are my arguments for why my cheerless attitude does not earn me a “sancti” tacked onto my “mommy.” Hear me out.

1. I am getting a redo of my childhood. This can be true for anyone, but it’s especially bittersweet for me. When I was growing up, I split my time between hiding in my room from the bipolar tension that thrummed through my house, and melting outside in the Maryland humidity trying to tag along with a gang of neighborhood kids who definitely did not want me joining in their reindeer games. My kids may think the blueberry picking-hiking-gardening-swimming-canoeing-waterfall frolicking-sand castle building are all about them, but they’re a lot about me putting my past behind me.

2. When my kids where small I didn’t work outside the home. I didn’t have the constant tug and pull between work and childcare threatening to shred my sanity. I just had excuses to splash through water parks and craft masterpieces out of egg cartons. Now that I do work from home, my kids are teens and more than happy to sleep until noon to give me the writing time I need, which brings me to my next point . . .

3. My kids are teens and their school-time schedules are crushing. The homework, the projects, the games, the concerts, the competitions, oh my. And that is not even including the carousal of their social lives. I actually have less work time during the school year because my “freedom” ends at 2:30 PM and the driving in circles lasts until 9:30 PM.

4. I am not a morning person, a.k.a. “lazy” in the eyes of early risers. Talk about a group who’s sanctimonious. I only want to sleep until 8:00 AM. Is that so wrong? I thought there would be some magic switch when I reached adulthood that would make getting up early easy. As far as I know, there isn’t one because getting up at 6:15 AM is still an act of torture. If you know of such a switch, you should market that on one of those late night infomercials. Because that’s when your audience would be awake. Get it? You could bank some serious coin.

5. Let’s get back to “my kids are teens.” My oldest is a senior. A SENIOR! This is the last summer of spinning in the world as I know it, or at least how I have known it for seventeen years. Next year’s back to school will mean shuttling my girl off to her future and making my nest just a little more empty. What? I have allergies, dammit. IT’S JUST ALLERGIES! Give me a moment . . .

6. Okay, let’s end this list on a rallying point, common ground, something on which we can all agree. PTA/PTO/Boosters/Friends of the School: no matter what you call it, the meetings kill just a little more of your soul each and every time you attend one. Remember that senior I was sniffling over? That means I have been squeezing my tush into school desks for close to thirteen years. My soul is on life support. I know they are necessary, and not always evil, but you know what? I’m going to stop here because if you love these particular coffee clatches of blackboard politics, I’ve insulted you past the brink of indignation anyway. Go ahead and burn my effigy; it’ll make you feel good. Maybe even sanctimonious.

But for those of you I haven’t offended, could we maybe all agree not to judge? For every mom clicking her heels, there may be a mom in need of a hug because her cohorts in fun have gone back to their educational grinds. And if you fall into the latter group, come sit next to me and have a cookie. I understand.

-Ellen

My Feelings About Back to School Are Wildly Unpopular With the Internet

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5 Moms to Avoid at School Open House

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We know you’re rocking your mothering gig quite well, but we just might have some tips that will make your life even easier. When it comes to back-to-school we’ve got some experience: Erin is a 15 year veteran, if you count preschool, and Ellen is right behind earning her stripes at 14 years.

Right about now, you may be breathing a sigh of relief because the start of school is a calendar page behind you, and your brood is settling into the comfortable groove of routine. But we say, “Nay, do not let your guard down!”

This is where our experience will be to your benefit because looming on the horizon is School Open House. We know you’ve been there before, but it’s been a whole year since the last one. You may only be remembering stale cookies and sweet teachers, but we’ve had it beaten into us that there are dangers lurking. We hold the proverbial mirror up to you and the truth. Trust us as your guides on what, or more accurately, who to avoid.

1. Clipboard Chick

Seriously, you have your own committees to fill. She can work the other side of the room. You are NOT buying what she is selling.

Good. It looks like she’s moved to the other side of that plate glass window. You know it! This is YOUR house!

2. The Peddler

Speaking of selling, this is the only woman more dreaded than the Clipboard Chick. She has never seen an eyeliner spackle kit, gold-plated garlic press, or convertible fanny pack/dignity coffin/dream killer that she hasn’t wanted to sell you. She always has a party going on if your idea of partying is spending your vacation fund on beach scented candles.

Meanwhile, there is that woman with the clipboard again, better dash to the left.

3. The Tiger Mom

You know the one. Her kids have been prepping for the SATs since second grade. You don’t need that brand of stress burrowing into your brain. “We’re lobbying for Chadwart to take the ACTs in Japanese so he can showcase his full skill set in the most efficient way possible.”

Maybe you do need a gold-plated garlic press . . . to whack her over the head.

Damn, the Clipboard Chick is right there over your shoulder. Is it too much to ask to pee alone? She is so tacky.

4. The One Upper

You would think she is the Tiger Mom except she doesn’t have her kids achievements on a running loop. She is a little more skilled than that. She feeds off of your conversation . . . and your will to live, to create a whole new fantastical level of humblebrag. She’s an artisan, really. “Oh your Bonnie collected for Toys for Tots”? Well, our little Magniphyscent organized the toddlers in the YMCA babysitting room to construct toys out of beach detritus and driftwood. Toys for Tots said it was the most creative upcycling of hypodermics they had ever seen.”

This woman is worth studying, though. Thanks to her competitive Pilates training, she has moves to avoid Clipboard Chick that would make a ninja weep with jealousy. She really did you a favor this time by demonstrating her cartwheel/pirouette/moon-walk maneuver. Thanks for the warning that Clipboard Chick is near! Whew, that was a close one.

5. The Complainer

For her, nothing is right with the curriculum, teachers, food, lighting, locker room water pressure. or toilet paper absorbancy. But will she join a committee or do anything about it? Oh noooooo! She spews negativity like a geyser and avoids taking action like the plague.

But once again, you’re in luck. You won’t have to deal with Madame Debbie Downer today because she’s galloping away from you.

And that’s when you catch your reflection in the band room window . . .

The Clipboard Chick . . .

Cue the Psycho music . . .

Could it be? . . .

NO! . . .

IS YOU!

What have you become?! Even we can’t help you. On a side note, kudos to the new custodial staff for keeping the surfaces so clean, shiny, and reflective.

-Ellen and Erin

Beware! 5 Moms to Avoid at School Open House.

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Hold Onto Summer Book List

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Pumpkins may be pushing pool noodles from the shelves, but there is still summer to be had! The sun is still blazing, our legs are still sticking to the car seats, and more importantly, there are still some great beach reads to be devoured.

Now when we say “Beach Reads” we are not talking about bare chested studs astride white stallions. We’re talking about novels that are easy to get lost in—the ones that leave you wanting the next page and sad when they are over. They are easy, enjoyable reads with interesting stories and rich character development.

Actually, they’re just good, solid books perfect for any time, but why not use a last hurrah to summer as the perfect excuse to load up your Kindle or pile up your nightstand?

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

While the intrigue may not be so deep that you are profoundly shocked, this sweeping saga still pulls you through the pages and leaves you deliciously wondering from time to time. But the real charm of this novel lies in its richly sculpted characters and relationships. Williams examines class standing, prejudice, and the complicated nature of female relationships in a truly satisfying way. Set in the socialite scene of the 1930s, this novel is as glamorous as it is gritty as it plunges into the treachery of family secrets and true love.

The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner

This is the perfect Hollywood success story with the gilt of perfection delightfully rubbed bare in a number of places. You’ll love the quirky main character, Ruthie, the screenwriter with the tragic back story, whose real heart and soul inspire you to cheer for her from the very first page. How can you not love a character whose grandmother will follow her across the country to help her realize her dream? This book has it all–love, betrayal, and a delightful comeuppance. This peek behind the Hollywood curtain will have you missing 30 Rock a little less.

Beautiful Day by Elin Hildebrand

This is the story of planning a wedding day, a real wedding day rife with disasters, not the stuff of princess dreams. Money is no object, so everything should be falling into place, but everything is actually starting to unravel. At the heart of the story is The Notebook, the instruction manual the bride-to-be’s mother wrote for her before she died. This tale is at times wistful and sometimes heartbreaking, but it is written with a light touch and is always entertaining. At first it seems like each character has his or her own side story going on, but it soon becomes apparent that each tale is part of the messy tapestry woven when two families join through marriage. It is the multiple points of view that make this novel as tasty as a slice of wedding cake.

Defending Jacob by William Landay

This book was so popular among Erin’s family and friends LAST summer that it took us a year to track it down.

Totally worth the wait.

A legal thriller that would feel right at home next to your favorite Grishams and Turows, this one will keep you guessing and turning pages until the end. Landay may delve into some of the fears and insecurities of modern parenting and he may write very believable, relatable characters, but ultimately you will devour this one because it’s a good old-fashioned whodunit and that’s always a good read.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Who’s looking for some book crack?

We found it!

Erin laughed, cried, and ignored her kids for three days to finish this one in the big, sloppy gulps it demands. You know from the beginning that there has been a terrible tragedy at the local school’s Trivia Night, because Moriarty leaves little crumbs at the end of each chapter. But that’s not the story here. This is NOT another legal thriller.

A big, sprawling character study of modern moms, it may be. An ironic, funny take on modern parenting, it definitely is! It’s also a rollicking good time. You’ll laugh and cringe at just how right Moriarty gets all the characters hanging out in the school parking lot. A great read to get you ready for back-to-school while still soaking up that last joyful moment of summer indulgence.