Back To School, Laptop In Tow
This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Intel
I started teaching English 15 years ago. That has absolutely nothing to do with this post except that I have experienced 15 separate years of Back To School shopping for both my own children and also for my students and that fact is kind of mind-boggling to me right now.
When I was in elementary school (or grammar school, if you prefer) my mother took me and my sisters school shopping in late August of every year. It was the 70s, we were living in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago, and we went to Catholic school. Now, this fact I mention because there isn’t much clothes shopping that’s very exciting about getting our required uniforms. Every year the same shop had our uniforms and the only thrill was deciding between plaid jumpers, plaid culottes, and plaid shorts. There really was no way to make that fun. Unless you count the time we found plaid headbands to hold back my afro and you know what? I totally do not count that time.
The rituals were much the same for getting our school supplies and I was convinced that any folder or pencil or eraser with Hello Kitty on it would surely be accepted by the nuns who would be teaching me. (I need to shout out to Sister Geraldine here. Hey, sis! What up?) Honestly, the real fun came when we got to get our saddle shoes. My mother always found this to be funny and nostalgic because she wore them to school when she was a girl and it amused her that her girls were wearing them since they came back in fashion. My mom never worr her shoes home from the store because she adored opening the box to smell the leather even more than wearing them and she spoiled us occasionally and let my sisters and I wear them so long as we didn’t scuff them up too badly.
Now that I’m a mom, I find that it’s regrettable that saddle shoes aren’t in fashion. Or that my children don’t wear uniforms. Or even that my boys refuse to use anything with Hello Kitty on it. (They are SO missing out on something cool here. I mean, how many girls would be all, “Oh, how C-U-T-E!” and then they’d be a hit with them?) (Wait. I don’t need any girls flirting with my boys.) (Back off, girls! I mean it!) Our routines are much different than when I was a kid. Normally, we shop for jeans and cargo pants and polo shirts. They get one pair of tennis shoes and then we scurry over to the department stores for paper, notebooks, and expensive calculators. My sons, both in high school now, will probably get a haircut before school starts, ask for money to buy music or go to the movies, and then we’ll call it a day. My routines as a kid seemed to happen all in one day. Theirs seems to go on for about a week while I go back and forth to work myself and call them during the day as they play out their last days of summer:
Hey. I have a packet of sticky notes in my drawer here at work. Want it?
Sure, mom. Whatever. Wait. Are they pink?
No. Maybe. YES.
Bring me yellow ones. Do you have any good pens?
You know I do. I like good pens.
How about a new zip drive?
DUDE. You’re pushing it. I have some thumb drives at home. Use those.
I need some more CDs to burn some music. (We buy all our music in this house. ALL of it. Don’t judge me.)
This goes on for some time until I eventually realize that they are just hoping to get some electronic devices out of me. I don’t fall for it. Not all the time anyway.
You’re done hearing about the exchange between me and my sons now. You probably want to know how you can win a new laptop, right? RIGHT.
To enter the contest to win that pretty shiny laptop, leave me a comment below and leave a comment about what back to school tools or rituals you had vs. what your children have today – or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin at 9:00 a.m. (PST) July 21, 2009 and will end 5:00 p.m. (PST) August 31, 2009. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.
Rules:
- No duplicate comments.
- You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
- You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
- This giveaway is open to US residents, aged 18 and over
- Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
- You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
- Please see the official rules here.
Check out this BlogHer page to see the other ladies doing reviews.
Acer Aspire’s homepage can be found here and dang! That thing looks super slick on this page.
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Growing up it was all about browsing the Sunday ads and circling and checking off my must-have items. Nowadays, I flock to the internet to get the lowdown on deals for my children. I still enjoy browsing a paper now and then (nothing like that tactile sensation of paper between fingers), but the internet is alot greener and faster to boot!
I went to Catholic grade school and hence wore uniforms, but for some weird reason, we were allowed to wear street clothes for the first week of school. So, of course, we had to have NEW clothes to do this, because wearing those old clothes for that week was just too practical. Plus, since this was Catholic school in the 1970′s, we had to wear dresses, because girls were not allowed to wear pants to school back then. I remember going to the brand new K-Mart up the street from my house and gleefully trying on tons of clothes, and putting the 3 coolest outfits on lay-away.
Our back-to-school traditions with my two boys are a little less complicated. They also wear uniforms, so we end up spending one night (about two weeks before school starts), driving out to the place that sells the uniforms and shoes, then we go window shopping at the “Guitar Center” which is located nearby, and have dinner at a restaurant and we talk about what expectations we all have for the upcoming year. We sure could use the laptop to make this school year easier!
The only back to school ritual I remember as a kid was picking out one outfit that would be the picture day outfit. I think I did that from Kindergarden until senior year.
The back to school ritual I had when I was a child was making sure my clothes were laid out the night before (my mother did that) and all my pens, pencils,paper, crayons and other supplies were packed in my bag ready to go.
I have the same ritual that my mom had for me. I drop little notes into my daughters lunch box every few weeks. Sometimes I put a card in, sometimes I put a really pretty bookmark in, when she was younger I would put in some nice stickers for her collection. I know how much this made me feel special so doing this for my daughter is a great tradition that I carried on.
My tweet for the giveaway http://twitter.com/DJanMom/status/3674383649
My blog posting
http://janmcdsweepsandgiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/08/win-brand-new-intel-acer-aspire-laptop.html
http://www.frufrugal.com/2009/08/31/blog-back-to-school-bliss-clothes-shopping-rituals/
posted on my blog
http://twitter.com/FruFrugal/status/3674680533
tweeted
Taking pictures by the school sign is always something I did, and my mom did. Great to compare.
At fourteen I didn’t have to wear a uniform any more so shopping for clothes was a big thing. Next I’d have to say getting my hair done with a fresh haircut was pretty important. In high school we were able to come to school early and get and do a walk-thru sort of thing to find where our classes where and our assigned locker. Some of my girlfriends and I would meet and decide who we would share lockers with so we could leave certain books, papers etc in the closest locker to certain classes. That’s pretty much the most I can remember since it’s been so long
As for tools, well picking out the perfect color backpack & pens that would go well with my clothes was important. Computers were still so new and Big and CLUNKY back then I wouldn’t have to worry about that. I’d just have to pick out my different 3 leaf notebook binders. (Dang that sounds ancient)
Getting in just under the wire:
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/goldone/status/3675154232
Seriously, the only ritual for back to school when I was a kid was shopping for new sneakers. And they always had to be on sale!!! Today, my kids insist we go to every store– Walmart, Kmart, Target, the mall– and buy everything new! Uhhhggg!
Tweet! http://twitter.com/sweepstakesgirl/status/3675195205.
The school ritual that sticks out in my head was picking that perfect first day outfit. It was such an important thing, and my mom was so patient with me trying on 10,000 different outfits until I found the one that would feel just right. It was always like attending the Oscars, the outfit was what it was all about. That is most most vivid ritual memory.
http://twitter.com/LindzCS/status/3675667149
My website http://sweepstakesjunkiegiveawayaficionado.blogspot.com/2009/08/mocha-momma-hosting-intel-laptop.html
When I was a child we went together to go back to school shopping. I do the same with my children.
I don’t have children, but I do teach children. I remember when it was my fist day of school, there were always many parents lurking around and tons of parents coming and going through out the morning. THis morning, on my first day of school, I had 2 parents out of 18 kids. It was a little crazy. My dad took me to school for the first day all the time. We also had a lunch ritual that day. That was the only day that I got to leave school at lunch and go out on the town. I mis that now!
I didn’t have a computer for school work.
tweeted
http://twitter.com/07violet/status/3676323134
No computerized anything for schoolwork. I still love school supply buying time! Makes me want to get a bouquet of sharpened pencils.
My oldest son is in 4K. He stays at school the full day and he has a really neat waste-free lunch system, the Laptop Lunch Bag. When I was young we had the drug store lunch boxes and thermoses. I think his stuff looks cooler
. He also has Mabel’s Labels instead of his name written on stuff with a sharpie!
My husband is a teacher and his highschool math students do lots more colaborative work on computer and other research even in math class! When I was in highschool math class was sitting and watching the teacher work problems on an overhead projector.
When I went back to school every year, I used to go out to eat pizza with a few of my close friends the Sunday night before school started. I will have to think of a special ritual for my son when he gets a little older. This year he was just so excited to go! He loves his school!
CanCan
Mom Most Traveled
http://www.MomMostTraveled.com
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