Thanks for the Memories
It's only month one of back-to-school, but with the amount of PTA paperwork, art projects and homework that are already pouring out of your children’s backpack, it feels much longer. You have vowed this year to control the paper trail (scribbles get tossed, for example) if only so that you can see the surface of your kitchen table. But there are certain things that you would never part ways with. The report card, the class picture, first kindergarten drawing, first spelling test -- these are the things that you wish you could keep better track of, but alas, organization just isn’t your strong suit.
Thankfully, it is that of Pam Socolow, founder of Family Facts, an organizational company based in Mount Kisco. From busy life planners to Pregnancy planners, the queen of clutter-free thinks of everything, including the School Years Memento Keeper. This attractive keepsake lets you keep track of your child’s school stuff from preschool up through high school. Along with handy pouches for report cards and special awards, there’s designated space to document your child’s vital statistics, signature and artwork so that you can see how they change through the years -- and have a good cry at how old they (and you) are getting. Speaking of, if you really enjoy ripping your heart out, you can present the Keeper to your child as a graduation gift. That, along with a copy of Dr. Suess’s Oh the Places You’ll Go! should keep you in tissues for weeks.
Just keep them off your kitchen table.
School Year Mementos filing system, $22
Available at Penny Auntie Toys
Chappaqua, New York
Start saving on time, gas and your sanity by ordering a bunch of personalized shirts from 
Lucky Brand Jeans, Billy Straight Leg $68
removable insulated lunch bag, two outside side pockets for water bottles, a pencil/pen organizer, and a zippered mesh pocket inside. The good people at Fleurville make all their products free of PVC, Teflon, and lead.
Fleurville People Pak backback ($66.50) comes with a coordinating "Lunch Buddy" insulated lunch box ($28.50) that hooks to the front of the Pak. 
On May 16th, celebrate the opening with a benefit for The Pinwheel Project, an organization that helps to provide emotional and practical support for children and their families during a pediatric hospital stay. You can nibble on delicious little appetizers, baked goods and tiny 'tinis and come home with body art from the henna tattoo artist. Can't join the evening party? Bring your tots to the store from 1-3 o'clock for milk and cookies.
Lay paper on flat surface vertically. 
Fold paper down center vertically.
Cut out four sets of hearts from the doubled up edge, which will net 8 total.
Open hearts (each edge will now have a hole) and thread four onto each pipe cleaner. 
Twist ends of pipe cleaners together to create a circle. Voila, you have a necklace. 
Wearing dark sunglasses and a wig, you whisk your child out of school and hot-foot it to the drugstore to pick up an over-the-counter bug-be-gone shampoo for him (and a bottle of Xanax for you). You empty the bottle (shampoo, not Xanax) over his scalp and comb through his hair strand by strand. Now, two weeks later, not only is he scratching again, but so is his younger sister and is it your imagination or does your own head feel a little itchy? 
You could fork over the remote for a Backyardigans marathon. Or you could head to the Story Hour at Stone Barns. Just in time for vegetable garden season, Farmer Shannon will read the classic, Carrot Seed. Afterwards, visit the farm’s animals -- cows, pigs, sheep, turkeys and rabbits, roaming in the pasture. (Just make sure to supervise your little one well as the fences are electrified.) Then, wander through the vegetable fields to guess what’s growing and inhale the lush dooryard garden, already in full bloom. 
