The really important school essentials parents need for their kids for back to school are items that parents forget and often overlook but will make a difference in every aspect of their child’s school career. As parents are busy dealing with back-to-school supplies and new clothing for school often these most needed items from parents for kids going starting school again, will make the first few days and the year much more organized and bearable as you undo the summer fun and get back into the swing of busy school schedules.

Why You’ll Love The Exclusive For Parents Only Back To School Essentials List All Parents Need For Their Kids
As a mom of three, I can honestly say, that from preschool to college there is always something more the kids need when the kids go back to school.
Year after year I attempt to get it right and to be organized (which I am highly efficient and organized) yet, these 3 school essentials parents need for their kids have slipped right through my fingertips at less than perfect times!
- you’ll be able to alleviate back-to-school disorganization which seems like a hurricane blowing through your home
- when you provide these school essentials that are not school supplies, you are rewarding your child with stability and no worrying which is priceless.
- you’ve got yourself organized as well for whatever is thrown at you and this makes you less ‘crazy’ and able to navigate through any busy day!
- your kids won’t miss out on things that they might have
- the parents’ back-to-school items I am sharing with you are not the typical items such as school supplies these are the sneaky ones no one warns you about!
- plus you’ll set a great example of being organized and they say that kids mimic what they learn and see!
Unforeseen Issues With School Essentials Parents Need For Their Kids And Some May Not Have
What I can promise you is that a few of you will roll your eyes at least one of these items, but I am not kidding when I tell you it is the most unexpected item you should possess and may not, and there are very few workarounds.
Plus, considering our New Normal, post-Covid it is crazy to me to really own this item, as well as our world, is more touchless than not!
Other struggles that may occur from the unforeseen issues with this exclusive for parents only back to school essentials list will stem from a lack of personal connections and I can tell you on a personal level I know how hard this is, but we’ll dive into that a little further in the short read here!
The 3 Important School Essentials Parents Need For Their Kids Are…
Every parent has their own style and their own way of working through fulfilling their kid’s needs, however, there are things that parents can do to help make fulfillment easier and to make sure that they are in possession of essentials that you will find will be requested once your child starts school in almost any grade level.
The funny thing about these 3 parent must-haves for their school-age kids is that when you have them, you make it all less stressful for your kids and that is ultra important to the success of a child! Go you.
The First Item on Our Exclusive For Parents Only Back To School Essentials List is About Time
I have an acquaintance, that held a very big job at a very big corporation.
In fact, she was the only parent that ever showed up for her kids, as her ex-husband (they were still married at the time) was a gambling fool and kind of forgot that he had a family.
The funny thing was he showed up for nothing, but somehow she was always there for every conference, every show at night, and any event in the homeroom that involved parents.
What I learned from her, early on, was about time, organization, and how to make it all happen. Here is her devout list of how to show up where you need to be when you need to be for your kids!
- Look for the school calendar online it appears mid-summer for most.
- If the calendar is not online then wait for the mailed school calendar.
- The minute you are in possession of it, look for parent-teacher conference dates, performances (for the clubs your kids are involved in)
- Immediately submit your 1/2 day or full day vacation days to your manager/boss whatever you want to refer to them as
- Boom, you are not just a working parent, you are an organized parent that took that time to show up, and showing up will show the kids you are involved and hopefully keep them staying involved in their great academic potential!
I immediately implemented this tip into my life and it really is a school essential that falls under the parent must-have for their school-age kids because you gotta show up and be involved even if you can only take off for 1 conference and 1 homeroom parent day or performance.
The earlier you get ahead of the scheduling issues, the more likely you are to be approved to take that time off. And the same acquaintance also suggested that it is easier to request 1/2 days that full, plus it makes you feel like you are getting a little extra time off using 1/2 days.
Remember not every meeting, show, or homeroom event is in the morning, so there’s no need to take a full day! Being organized ahead of time is better than trying to catch your tail and realizing there is a meeting you want to be at for your kids and can not be due to a work conflict!
The 2nd Exclusive for Parents Only Back To School Essentials List Item Is All About Connections
Parenting is as rewarding as it is limiting and it is a rigorous 24/7 365 days a year job which you already know!
The rewarding part is great, but the only way to the rewards is to have a good setup, and it takes a village!
Relating Parenting To The Parent Must-Haves For Their School Age Kids IS A Gray Area!
I am a bit more isolated, and I live in the gray area, so for anyone out there worrying about being the one without a lot of friends or family around, don’t be because you are not alone!
Allow me to share potential issues for the connections so you can see why this emergency form thing never seems to be discussed but is super important!
Sometimes in the scuffle of life, you get lost and you lose a lot of contact with your friends because you have all you can do to keep your head above water as a single parent working a job with 1 kid or multiple kids you are raising.
Or you may be married (or not and instead living with your partner) but might as well be single because you are THE parent that shows up and is all about those precious kids!
No judging here trust me, as my house runs as far from normal as it can be and I have 3 kids I feel you all, in every which way and I can identify and testify as too hard how it is being THE parent that is there for everything, and somehow still finds a way to grocery shop, pay bills and sometimes work a haircut into the mix!
Filling Out The Emergency Contacts And POC Is Difficult But Navigatable and Part of the Exclusive For Parents Only Back To School Essentials List
- In case your child breaks a bone during a field trip, or at school
- if your child falls ill
- in case of inclement weather and early school closings
- in case of school closure due to unforeseen circumstances that develop during the day
School forms require more than you as a POC (point of contact) in case of an emergency which may be very intimidating and also hard to find!
- You’ll need someone on that list that will take a call from the school in case that the school can not locate you (due to work and no phone privileges or if you are in your own personal appointment and can’t be reached, etc)
- hopefully, the point of contact you select has a car in case they have to get to the school fast for the child in need
- someone with a cell phone and not a landline phone (in order to get the call and quickly share the news)
- a person that will easily care step up in your absence in case you can’t be contacted.
- a point of contact that is close enough to get there fast enough if needed.
I’ll share this brief story to hopefully make you feel less isolated because emergency contact is one of the top parent must-haves for their school-age children and especially in today’s crazy world.
We live more than 25 minutes separate from my parents, and when my husband’s parents were alive, they were more than 45 minutes away from where our children attended school so neither was an option!
Having just moved into a new and very unfriendly new neighborhood we had no friends and my friends from our old home were in the middle of divorces and in their own funnel of issues!
I needed to have just a name in case I could not be reached, I was working between a fast food window while the kids were much younger and on my website, so sometimes I had no phone privileges, and other times I was on assignment and could not break from work.
I asked someone on one side of our family to be the Point of Contact and in 10+ years never did they get a call, nor would they.
However, recently I got a text that was short and snippy from this human last year, asking me to take HER off the point of contact she wanted nothing to do with it. To this day there was no reason for it, no fight, no issues, she decided that she didn’t want to be contacted.
Yes, it makes my task of fulfilling parent must-haves for their school-age kids very difficult and I was very hurt, I survived and learned who I could ask in case of an emergency!
Long story short, network through your neighbors, your children’s sports teams, clubs, and your church. The person you choose for those forms, can change year to year and your friends will too, but you do need to have a plan in case you simply can’t show up and it is the top of the list for a parent must-have for their school-age children!
This Is The TOP of the List Item for School Essentials Parents Need For Their Kids And It Is Absolutely Ridiculous!
The most ridiculous parent essential for back to school you may not have but will need simply floors me for the day and age that we live in.
Are we not in a touchless digital world? Get ready because this ridiculous parent essential for back to school you may not have is replaceable yet still overused and can prove to be a source of stress for your child when they need to ask you for it!
Paper checking writing is so yesterday, and some of our kids don’t even know what checks are and may never it really is a ridiculous parent essential for back to school that will catch you off guard when your child needs a ‘Check Only Made Payable To” and there is no workaround!
So then, someone needs to explain to me, why we can buy practically anything online and we can deposit checks online, but, we still are required to write a CHECK for many things at our kid’s school.
At our one Catholic school, I wrote checks like water running out of a faucet, for donations, basket collections, food, gift cards, and tuition, and I thought when we transferred the kids to public school it would be so different but it wasn’t.
School Essentials Parents Need For Their Kids Might Require Paper Checks!
- school photos
- sports photos
- prom tickets
- sports games for charity
- book buying day (elementary school for the book fairs)
- cafeteria meals unless you prefer a 10% upcharge in your price
- field trips
Honestly, the list goes on and on and I don’t understand why. Most teens don’t carry a checkbook, most adults don’t either.
Checks are antiquated, hardly used, things from the past, and most paychecks are even auto-deposited into a bank account via a routing number and account number supplied by the employee.
In fact, many banking institutions charge for checks because it costs them money to provide. While we live in a very modern area, our school, as digital and touchless as it is, fails in this area every year, from providing forms for events that require, “checks made payable to XYZ” and no other options of payment methods!
My one child asked me for a check and didn’t want to because once we were out of Catholic School I have hardly written any checks and he wondered if I had any!
Your Homework As A Parent Is To Get Ready with the School Essentials Parents Need For Their Kids
As if you need any more assignments in life, do try to make certain that you use this exclusive for parents only back to school essentials list to be ahead of the things you might be asked for by your kids.
And, let us all hope that the ridiculous parent essential for back to school that you may not have (checks) gets dropped from this list as VENMO, ZELLE, and PAYPAL are available and touchless ways to transmit money to and from!
If I missed any crazy items parents need, hit me up with a comment and I’ll add it to the list with credit to you.
Dana XO
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