Back to School Shopping 2009

iLunchBox.com

Well it is officially "Back to School" time. August marks the close of summer time fun and the start back to school preparation. I truly hate having to think about it so soon. This is the time of the summer I am enjoying the most. We are all finally relaxed and on vacation; no swim team, no graduation parties or weddings, etc. One year I boycotted the whole back to school frenzy, it backfired. By the time I got to the store all the school supplies I needed were out of stock and the lunch box and back pack selection was pitiful. The next year I did some of the shopping online, which was GREAT! However, I learned you need to allow a little extra time for delivery so you are not paying through the nose for things; and more importantly, that your kids are not the only ones without their stuff on the first day of school.

This year I organized a school supply kit purchasing program for my children’s school. As of June, I was done with school supply shopping. One click on the online order form and all the school supplies were purchases and will be waiting on my children’s desks the first day of school. YEAH!!!! Thanks EPI (Educational Products, Inc.)

In our house (in California), no one needs new shoes on the first day of school and it is still so hot they can wear their summer shorts and t-shirts for at least another two to three monthes. But what they do need are back packs and a new lunch boxes.

The best lunchbox I found last year was the Thermos Sling Pack Lunch Cooler for $9.79 at Target.com. It is large, leak proof and has additional pockets and adjustable strap. It is designed to be a mini back pack and hold a more than is needed for the day. This made it great as a weekend lunchbox/cooler bag when we went hiking or to the beach. I have to say this is the first lunch box that has made it through an entire school year. What a bargain.

Ecobags, has some really great eco-friendly lunch boxes and packing items, as does Laptop Lunches. They are all a bit on the pricier side, but you can feel good about your purchase. Ecobags are my favorite because the gals that run the place are always looking for great stuff to pass on to us moms.

I used a bunch of Fit & Fresh items last year, which were pretty good, but my kids are tough on stuff and the plastic just broke after a while. Thermos food jars and insulated beverage containers are still the most durable.

The most valuable purchase of the year is and will always be a sturdy stainless steel water bottle. If you don’t have one yet, get one!  Ecobags sells them too.

As for getting back packs nothing beats LL Bean and Land’s End. The durability of their products has outlasted my second child’s last two school years; he is affectionately referred to as the destroyer. Really, I have to say the back packs we have purchased from both companies have outlasted all of the other less expensive items year to year. I am now a convert; it is better to spend a bit more on better stuff than re-buy cheaper stuff more often. As a bonus, you can get your kid’s name or initials monogrammed right on the back pack and lunch box. It won’t help them lose their stuff any less, but it does make it easier to identify their stuff in lost and found.

My advice to you is this: stay cool, shop wisely and enjoy the last few days of summer vacation. Oh and on that first day of school, when all the kids are out of the house, go have mimosas with the other moms. It is one of the best things my friends and I do each year.

Information provided by Beth Ann Bentley, www.iLunchBox.com. Beth Ann Bentley is a management and marketing professional focusing on the food and beverage industry and website marketing. Her experience has concentrated in restaurant management, sports marketing and special events, public relations and field marketing. Beth Ann has managed, marketed and consulted with restaurants and companies in Manhattan and San Francisco, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. She holds a degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administrations from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  Currently Beth Ann is founder and president of iLunchBox.com, an online media company dedicated to the pursuit of a healthy lunch for school aged children.