Tech Savvy Mama

Parenting in the Digital Age

Starting Kindergarten, Handwritten Notes, and My Butterfly Folder

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This year the start of school is a little bittersweet as Captain Computer, our youngest, will start kindergarten this fall.  While I appreciate that I won’t have 2 different school schedules and multiple pickups to deal with, it’s hard to believe that he’s all grown up and will join the ranks of his sister at our local public school, a place where he already feels so at home.

Captain Computer has always been welcomed since before his sister started school. When I worked as a technology consultant for the school system, I’d stop by to work with the staff when I was pregnant with him.  After he was born, I took some time off to stay home and resurfaced again when Little Miss Techie started kindergarten.

“Is that the baby you were pregnant with when you used to come here?  How old is he now?  He’ll be a kindergartener soon!” members of the staff would often say. And sure enough he is.

Now that both of our children are in elementary school, I have a little bit more time during the day.  Rather than rushing to preschool pickup, I have a couple of extra hours to work, volunteer in the kids’ classrooms, and show the staff my appreciation.

When our daughter started kindergarten I sent in little tokens of thanks.  Chocolate bars, peppermint foot cream to help tired feet after a long day, and hand written notes. I like to think those handwritten notes were bright spots in her teacher’s day just like they were for me when I was teaching.

During my first year teaching I had a butterfly folder that was a gift from an experienced parent who happened to be a teacher too.  She said it was the perfect place to stash positive reminders that I could look back on during the most difficult days of my career.  I stuffed mine full of notes from kids, parents, colleagues, and my principal and referred to it often.

Maybe my kids’ teachers already have something similar to my butterfly folder but if they don’t, I think I’ll start off their year with a fancy folder filled with a handwritten note. And maybe I need to resurrect my butterfly folder and put some notes from my own children in it so when they’re off at school, I can think back to when they were little to help me get over the fact that they’re all grown up.
Go back to school shopping with Tiny Prints! Tiny Prints has perfect cards for notes to your child’s teacher and it’s never too early to think about personalized stationary for holiday gifts!  Or even notebooks to liven up the most boring staff meeting!
This post is part of a campaign with Tiny Prints and Global Influence.  I received a Tiny Prints gift card in exchange for my post.  All opinions are my own. Bus photo courtesy of Photos.com.

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Original post by Tech Savvy Mama
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Comments

  1. Amy says

    What a great idea! I’ll be sure to send notes of thanks to my son’s teacher this year. Oh kindergarten (sniff, sniff).

  2. Alexis (The Exhausted Mom) says

    I would love to have you as a parent in my class! I always try to send my kids’ teachers little tokens of thanks…especially during the change of seasons. I often find cute sticky notes or magnetic pads with cute seasonal prints in the dollar section of Target. They always appreciate that too!
    My baby is starting Kindergarten too…a little bittersweet! *sniff, sniff*