Moms Talk Q&A: Celebrating the First Day of School

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This week's question comes from , a reader and Moms Council member.

The start of school is just one week away and family magazines are full of recipes for cheese stick pencils, pound cake school buses and school-shaped cookies. Do you make a special breakfast, pack something special in your child's lunch, make a fancy snack or dinner on the first day of school? How do you celebrate the first day of school?

I usually make a “smiley face” breakfast: a big pancake for the head, squirt yogurt for hair, two mini pancakes for eyes, raisins for pupils, one-half of a strawberry for nose and a banana for a smile (the pancakes can be made earlier then frozen and heated in the microwave in the morning). I also purchase a special cookie for each child from the grocery store—a school bus, smile face, etc. Then after school or dinner, they have their special treat and we talk about the day.

We have an after school party at the bus stop on the first day if school. When my first child went into kindergarten I made special "school" cupcakes and now that has become a tradition. Other families at the bus stop bring drinks and snacks and we let the kids play after school all together while the kids (and parents) talk about school, their teachers and their first day experience!