I can’t believe my little man started 1st grade this week! I swear it seems like yesterday I was up late at night wondering if I was doing this “parenting” thing right or not. While this year wasn’t as rough emotionally as starting kindergarten was, the truth is I still spend a lot of time wondering if I’m doing the whole parenting thing right. Except instead of worrying about when we should starting solids or what high chair to buy, I worry about if I sent enough food for lunch, or if he will make new friends.
In typical fashion, I managed to leave some things for the very last minute, but instead of making it a rushed errand, I left my younger son at home with my husband and took my almost 1st grader for a fun adventure to the store. The one thing I have learned in the past 6 years is that even the small moments count. I have learned even trips that are on our “to do lists” can be used as one-on-one time if we want it to be.
Getting Ready for Back To School with my 1st Grader!
So I grabbed my list and we headed over to Walmart to pick up a few school supplies, some lunch stuff, and snacks. Instead of rushing through my list, I gave it to my son and he loved going through the aisles until we found what we were looking for, and a few things we weren’t! First stop was the snack aisle. I don’t know what it is about the Pepperidge Farm® Goldfish Crackers, but both my boys love them! Normally, we buy the big bulk box of goldfish, but my son wanted to mix it up and picked out 4 different flavors to try in his lunch box. How could I say no to a sweet smile like that?
After crossing off a few breakfast items on our list, K pushed the cart and narrowly avoided crashing into displays found his way across the whole store to the back to school items – with a detour over in the toy section to browse and look at Legos of course! I picked up a ruler, and he picked out his pencil case, and we made one last stop to pick up some Wet Ones singles. I LOVE Wet Ones. I have packages of them in my diaper bags and car, canisters in our kitchen, and I wanted to pick up some singles so that K could wipe his hands of before and after he ate lunch. It’s easy enough for him to do on his own, and I like knowing that he’s wiping off some of those back to school germs before he shovels all his food into his mouth.
Since we didn’t have too much in our cart, I decided to do another one of my son’s favorite things – the self check out lane. I helped, but he loves doing the swiping and bagging all by himself. So often I’m in a rush to get our errands done, that I don’t stop to think of asking my kids to help, but when I remember to slow down, we always end up having so much fun.
When we got home it was dinner time, then bath time, books, and bed. As I was tucking my son into bed he told me that he really liked having our special shopping date. That made me smile. Sure, I could have planned better and had everything we needed for the first day of school, but honestly, this worked out perfectly. Instead of the tears I had on my face the night before Kindergarten, I packed his lunch and backpack with a smile on my face.
Sometimes it really is the little things like buying 4 flavors of Pepperidge Farm® Goldfish Crackers when you only have one on your list, or turning a mundane errand into a fun adventure, can not only make a difference in the day – you might just make some awesome memories.
My son survived his first day of 1st grade! When I asked him what the best part of his day was, I guess I couldn’t have been too shocked when he replied: LUNCH!
Since he loves lunch so much I have planned to take pictures of his lunches for the next week and share them. I love finding inspiration for new lunch ideas, so I thought this would be a fun way to share what we love packing in our lunch box!
Do you love Wet Ones as much as I do? Check out their website http://www.wishihadwetones.com/ for a chance to win a years supply of Wet Ones for you and your child’s classroom PLUS $1000 cash!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wet Ones® + Pepperidge Farm® . The opinions and text are all mine.
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What a handsome son. I love that first day of school picture with what he wants to be when he grows up. Very smart.