3 Tips For Choosing The Right Backpack

The time has come to prepare for getting our kids back to school. That means saying goodbye to their old backpacks and looking for a shiny new one to take them into the new school year. It’s always exciting with the little kids to shop for backpacks because it’s a time when you get to see just how much they’ve grown since the last school year. I’m also betting a lot of us parents get real sentimental at this time too.

But, the “show must go on” as they say. So we shop around for that shiny new backpack that will excite our child to want to go back to school. For me, the highlight of shopping during back to school time is all the school supplies. As a self-confessed stationery addict, one can never have too many post-it notes, notebooks, pens or……you get the picture. It was at this very time of preparing to shop for a new backpack for my daughter that I truly realized just how well she really used her kindergarten Hello Kitty backpack. It was not pretty and can we say, yuck!

This nasty looking thing is the backpack of my delicate-pink-loving-little-angel. Yes, it is a hot mess. This thing called a backpack took her through her first school experience in kindergarten, as well as, summer day camp. It being a girls backpack, I honestly do not know what could have possibly caused so much dirt and damage. What happened to sugar and spice, everything nice?! More like, play hard and oh, play harder!

It is quite possible she literally dragged this poor bag through the dirt and I shutter to think if it ever saw the likes of the bathroom floor (cue the Lysol). But, I suppose I cannot complain because I certainly got my money’s worth out of this purchase! Plus, she’s no doubt probably “over” Hello Kitty now anyway.

Let me walk you through the dirty details:

The picture above is the front of the backpack with the second zippered slot open. It’s open because it no longer zips closed. Somehow the zipper broke and it could not be repaired (“really, mommy, I don’t know how it broke”). For more months than I care to count (that’s code for: 3/4 of the last school year through summer), this particular flap has been hanging open in all its’ gloriousness and completely making this bag look even more hideous.

At one point, I had pinned it closed with two very large safety pins. However, someone felt the need to steal my daughters’ safety pins, thereby, leaving her with a droopy bag pocket…again. I mean, who does that?

Now this is the back of the bag, which all in all, wasn’t as gross. I understood from the little one that there were a few times that she accidentally sprayed her sunblock…inside the bag. Don’t ask. I doubt I could even explain. But, as bad as it looks, I swore up and down I was not investing in another bag until the next school year…no matter how bad her Hello Kitty backpack really looked. She would just have to deal with this bag through summer camp (and so would I).

Well, I did it. I did not buy her a new backpack, but it was not easy. I worked amazingly hard to not look at that thing everyday or picture her carrying it. I resisted and in the end I feel good about having stuck to my conviction to not buy another backpack until the new school year. One point earned for mommy!

So, with the new school year just days away, with first grade excitement, it was time to officially put this sad ‘ole bag to rest. The new interest for the next school year? Barbie. Let the hunt begin!

While shopping for my daughter, I was looking around the store at what the other mommy’s were buying their daughters and I noticed a lot of princess backpacks. What’s that about? Yes, I have a problem with the advertising of princesses -everywhere. But, that’s for a whole other blog post! But seriously, is there a princess fade going on right now?

To help you while shopping for your child, I’ve included below 3 tips to consider when choosing the right backpack for your child.

3 Tips For Choosing The Right Backpack

1. Get the proper size backpack for your child. As an example, don’t buy an adult backpack for a small child.
2. Get wide padded straps. This will save your child’s shoulders if the weight gets heavy.
3. Look for lots of pockets and compartments (this is an organizers dream!). The more places to organize pens, pencils, erasers, paperclips, laptop (if required), books, lunch bag, etc., the better.

Are all you moms out there ready for the new school year? Share your thoughts, struggles, hopes and dirty old backpacks in a comment. I’d also love to know what character is your child into this school year.

Now that you’ve got some tips on choosing the right backpack for school, be sure to check out my post on Preparing For Back To School Using A Backpack Essentials Checklist for inspiration on getting organized.

If you are inspired to share your childs’ nasty backpack don’t forget to share by tagging me on Instagram and using #btdinspired, I’d love to see your work (and I just might repost your photo)!

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Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I just really love the product(s) I’ve willingly chosen to feature. All opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.