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The end of another school year has arrived, slowly and then all at once.

So many reels on social media have dubbed May and June “Maycember” for being an overloaded season of gift needs, calendar commitments, and, on a lighter note, joy.

Other reels in my algorithm lately are acknowledging the end-of-year transition time for teachers who are “resetting” their nervous systems, leaving the overstimulating environment of the school building and entering what hopes to be a rejuvenating summer season.

As a teacher-mom, the end-of-school needs for my own kids at home collide with those of my students. It’s been a whirlwind of after school parties, sending goodies in for my daughter’s class, dance recitals, and graduations for my kids inside and outside the classroom.

In a rare moment of quiet and preparation for family gatherings, I had to find the dining room table and get the house company ready.

As I took each item out of my daughter’s backpack, I was prepared to ruthlessly declutter, thinking that most of the items may need to be replaced.

I filled with nostalgia of the “lasts”–the last time I would draw a sketch on her snack bag this year… the last time I would have to wash out the bento box… the last time I would pack her speech marble notebook… the last time she would walk down the block from school with her backpack.

Slowly but surely, the table became visible and the backpack emptied.

Before me laid the trusty backpack, lunchbox, winter coat, folder, rainy-day indoor recess pouch, bento box, and uniforms that would live to see another year.

These were the school items that survived the year.

Not perfectly. Not untouched. Not looking brand new.

But still useful, still functional, and still worth carrying into September.

I share in one of my latest posts, my older daughter just graduated from pre-k and will be heading to kindergarten in September. While we will be reusing the majority of her organizational and school supplies next year, I have to recreate and repurchase for my younger daughter, who will be entering full-day nursery school in September.

This thought occurred to me as I cleaned and organized. Nostalgia for the year that passed in the blink of an eye collided with the always-running mom list-of-to-dos.

Then: gratitude.

As a second-time school mom, I know what I need and I know what to do. What a gift! While, yes, I have to get my second daughter ready for her school start, I know the exact brands and items that have stood the wear and tear of two elementary school years.

If you are staring at the end-of-year backpack pile and wondering what is worth saving, replacing, or buying again for September, this is the list I wish I had the first time around.

This is especially for the parent who does not want to rebuy everything for September but also does not want to be scrambling two weeks into the school year.

In this post, I’m sharing the school items that survived the year in our house: the backpack, lunchbox, bento box, labels, winter coat, folder, rainy-day bag, and the small snack-container upgrade I’m planning for September.

The Backpack That Will Get a Second Life

My older daughter had the same backpack from September through June and we will absolutely get another year (at least!) out of it.

I bought it on sale with a matching lunch box and, with a good scrub, they will be ready for next year.

Last year, my daughter used a Bluey backpack from Lidl with the matching lunchbox. It was adorable and it served its purpose for the year.

The lunchbox held up and stayed in our rotation.

The backpack, however, had reached the end of its life by June. It had been used hard, dragged around, packed and unpacked, and loved in the way only a preschool backpack can be loved.

So this year, I upgraded her to a matching backpack and lunchbox set with more structure.

That structure made a difference. Her lunch stayed better protected, things did not get as smushed, and the backpack itself held its shape through daily school use.

This morning, randomly, my daughter asked me if she could get a new backpack for school.

I intentionally bought her Lands’ End backpack so that she could use it for more than one school year.

A five-year-old cannot understand that the way an adult can, so I had to reframe it and come up with an upgrade.

I asked her if she would like to go to the store and pick out some patches that we could use to upgrade her backpack and add some sparkle.

She got all excited and we spent some time on Pinterest looking at ideas.

We will take a trip to Michaels or another craft store this summer with her backpack to pick out a few iron-on or glued-on patches that will make her existing backpack feel new.

I feel like we do that a lot around here– use what we have but give it an upgrade or a repurchase.

Since we have to buy items for my younger daughter, get a new uniform set for my older daughter who will now be in a big-kid school uniform, and continue major house renovations on the new house, I want to save money however possible.

While there are probably many more areas that I can be more frugal, I do the best I can to save money here and there that is more of a mindset.

It all adds up.

A $5 patch will save me from buying a $50 backpack, but more than that- I will create a memory with my daughter and teach her the same strategies of how to be creative rather than tap to pay for new.

The Lunchbox That Made It Through the Year

The matching lunchbox deserves its own mention because the structure made school mornings easier.

The lunchbox from the Bluey set remained usable, but the backpack did not.

That told me what I needed to know.

For daily school use, I wanted the structure.

I wanted the lunchbox to fit the bento box, ice pack, thermos when needed, and all the little moving parts of school lunch without making me feel like I was playing Tetris every morning.

The matching lunchbox helped keep her lunch from getting smushed and keep it colder longer.

It made sense, and it will be used again.

The Bento Box That Saved School Lunch Packing

My daughter’s school is completely nut-free.

Not just for when we send in holiday or birthday goodies — every single day.

While I can absolutely appreciate the seriousness of this since we lost a family friend to a peanut allergy years ago, I do struggle with what to send my peanut-butter-loving daughter for lunch.

Both of those things can exist at the same time!

Last year, I used to send her a hot lunch in a thermos: mini meatballs with sauce, no pasta, or chicken meatballs with no sauce, just ketchup.

She won’t eat cold cuts.

Or grilled chicken.

Don’t even come at me with sending a jerky stick.

Are you getting the picture?

She’s a creature of habit, and I had to find a way to make it work before I lost my mind.

One of her other go-tos, and still a favorite, is cheese and crackers with fruit — a pre-k charcuterie, what’s not to love?

Last year, I was constantly searching for Tupperware for all of these charcuterie elements because heaven forbid anything get soggy.

This year, I started the same way and finally said: I cannot keep doing this.

I bought a bento box on Amazon, and it was absolutely life-changing for me, a mom who has to pack a morning snack in a brown bag and then a full lunchbox for lunch.

Everything can go in the different compartments, and it never leaked.

The crackers stayed fresh, and everything stayed chilled by lunchtime with the built-in ice pack.

I put a Teddy Label on the front of the bento box, and it has survived the entire year — to be used again in September.

I plan to purchase one for my second daughter, and they can share the thermos as needed.

The Labels That Became a Year-Round System

The Teddy Labels and stamps sit in a plastic bag on top of the weekly drawer system so I know exactly where it is when I need it.

They are visible in each of the school supply photos in this blog! I put them on everything because kids tend to lose… everything.

Labeling doesn’t just happen in September- it’s a year-round need.

Little League starting up required labels inside my daughter’s bag, helmet, glove, visor– and on her bat.

For her end of year dance recital, I used labels inside each of her ballet and tap shoes, dance bag, and costume items.

School field day called for labels on her picnic blanket, baseball hat, and sunscreen.

They hold up to constant use whereas a marker would fade, bleed, or rub off.

Worth every penny and I will absolutely be repurchasing the same brand and size for my younger daughter.

Since she will get hand me down uniforms, her new labels will be stuck down right on top of those from my older daughter.

The Winter Coat That Held Up to Real Kid Life

We were Lands’ End kids growing up.

Everything from our winter coats to our snow pants, boots, and travel bags came from Lands’ End.

Why?

Because they stand the test of time.

The durability and price are hard to beat, and I am not sure why I had complete amnesia about this when I had to buy my first big-kid coat for my older daughter.

I remember searching every name brand for coats and being shocked by the price points and the overwhelming number of options.

Then, as I was packing the diaper bag — our giant Lands’ End tote bag — I saw the iconic label and had the epiphany to look there.

Of course.

I needed to find a coat that could do a lot of things at once.

It had to be warm enough for a harsh winter and outdoor recess. It had to be practical enough for school. It had to fit in her backpack or cubby during the day. And I needed something that worked for car rides without feeling like I was sending her into the cold completely underdressed.

The Lands’ End coats I have bought for the last two years have stood the test of time and the elements.

I have washed them consistently through the winter season because they get dirty.

Park trips, playground visits, outdoor recess, and digging in the garden — yes, even in winter — leave them looking like they have really lived a life.

But they wash so well.

They have held their shape, stayed warm, and been durable enough for me to pass them down from my older daughter to my younger daughter.

Lands’ End does not disappoint.

At this point, I am sticking with what works — and hopefully catching a sale so I can stock up when the timing is right.

The Durable Folder That Survived Daily Use

My daughter picked out a Five Star folder, and at first, I twitched at the price.

We used mostly paper folders growing up, and if my memory serves me, we were able to buy one fancy folder.

But I went with the fancy folder because the thought of scrounging for a replacement folder in the middle of the school year after a paper folder disintegrated was just too much.

And I am glad I did.

The folder survived daily use.

It went back and forth to school, held the papers, took the beating, and did exactly what I needed it to do.

The bottom line: get a durable folder for daily use and do not look back.

The Rainy-Day Bag I’ll Repack for September

Last year’s school supply list had an item on it that made my face scrunch in confusion:

A rainy-day bag.

What is THAT?

I texted a mom friend whose son is a year older than my daughter, and she had been-there-done-that.

She told me it was super simple. In a gallon Ziploc bag, send in a few items to be played with on indoor recess days.

I gathered a coloring book, a small puzzle from the dollar store, a fun Crayola specialty edition 8-pack of crayons, and a sticker-by-number book, and called it a day.

But when I tried to smush it all into the Ziploc, the coloring book just would not fit.

I went on Amazon and started to look to buy something new.

Then I remembered I already had these zippered “fish bags,” as my husband calls them, because he uses them to organize his fishing gear. I had originally bought them to organize toys, and I had an extra one.

It was the perfect fit for the coloring book.

I put a Teddy Label on the front of it and kept it moving.

I will definitely do the same thing for my younger daughter. The items inside might need a refresh, but that can be a fun rainy-day trip to the dollar store for them to pick out a few things they will look forward to using.

There is something so satisfying about using what you already have.

It is not just about saving money, although that matters.

It is the feeling that the item’s purpose is finally being fulfilled. It is the pride of pausing long enough to problem-solve and find a creative solution. It is the peace of knowing you did not spend money you did not need to spend.

The answer was already in the house.

Reuse, Refresh, Repurchase

The more I cleaned out the backpack, the more I realized that I was not starting from scratch.

That alone felt like a gift.

Some items will be reused exactly as they are.

Some will get a little refresh.

Some will be repurchased because they worked so well that I do not need to overthink them the second time around.

Reuse

The backpack.

The lunchbox.

The bento box.

The thermos.

The rainy-day pouch.

The winter coat.

The labels that are still holding strong.

Refresh

The backpack will get a little sparkle with patches.

The lunchbox and bento box will get a good scrub.

The rainy-day pouch will get a few new dollar store items.

The hand-me-down uniforms will get new labels stuck right on top of the old ones.

Repurchase

The labels.

The durable folder.

A second bento box for my younger daughter.

Stainless steel snack containers for September.

A few new uniform pieces for my older daughter as she heads into a big-kid school uniform.

What I’m Buying for September

While most of our school system will be reused next year, I am not pretending every piece of it was perfect.

One thing I am ready to upgrade is our snack container situation.

Over the past few years, we have accumulated a collection of tiny plastic snack containers and mismatched lids. Some have held up, some have seen better days, and some are probably only still in the cabinet because I keep convincing myself I might need them someday.

For September, I found stainless steel snack containers that I think will be perfect for my daughters’ snack bags.

They feel like the right next step for a few reasons. They will help us move away from some of the older plastic containers, they should hold up better over time, and they are useful beyond school. I can pack them in the girls’ snack bags, bring them to work, or use them for quick grab-and-go snacks when we are heading out the door.

I also like that this is not a full system overhaul.

It is one small upgrade to something we already use every day.

If they work the way I hope they will, I will be able to toss the majority of our old snack Tupperware and simplify that whole cabinet before the school year starts.

What This Taught Me Before September

I am not starting from scratch.

That is the biggest relief.

I do not have to reinvent the school system. I just have to notice what worked, reuse what survived, refresh what needs a little excitement, and repurchase the items that made our life easier.

The backpack can get a $5 patch instead of being replaced.

The lunchbox can get a good scrub.

The bento box can go right back into the rotation.

The labels can sit right on top of the drawer system, ready for the next sport, recital, field day, or school form that sends me scrambling.

The rainy-day bag can be repacked.

The folder can be repurchased without overthinking it.

The coat can be washed, passed down, and used again.

And maybe that is the whole point.

As a second-time school mom, I know what I need and I know what to do.

What a gift.

Items I’d Reuse, Refresh, or Repurchase

School Bag System
Lands’ End backpack- affiliate link coming soon!
Lands’ End lunchbox- affiliate link coming soon!
Zippered mesh pouches
Iron-on patches

Lunch System
Bentgo bento box with built-in ice pack
Kids thermos
Stainless steel snack containers

Labeling System
Teddy Labels

Clothing and Daily School Items
Lands’ End kids’ winter coat- affiliate link coming soon!
Five Star folder

Rainy-Day Bag Fillers
Crayola specialty crayons
Sticker-by-number book
Small magnetic puzzle book
Coloring book