CHRISTINE: I’m Christine Cyr-Clisset, and you’re listening to The Wirecutter Show.
ELLE: Hi, my name is Elle. I’m 10 years old and I’m going to fifth grade. I think the new back to school trends are Jansport backpacks and like squishies, like squishy dumplings, needles, specks, stuff like that.
CHRISTINE: It feels way too soon to say this… but for many people it’s back to school time already! We wanted to celebrate back to school in a fun way on the show. So we asked a few kids of our Wirecutter staff what they’re looking forward to.
ELSA: Hi, my name is Elsa Chun, and I’m 16 years old. This year, I’m excited to have my favorite pants for back to school, including my baggy, baggy black jeans that I thrifted this year. I’m exciting to pair it with my beaded blue tank top that I bought on a whim at Ross, and that’s probably gonna make my first day of school outfit.
ELEANOR: Hi, I’m Eleanor Kraus, and I’m eight years old. What I’m looking forward to back to school, I’m look forward to getting some name bubbles. There are these little stickers that you can put them on lunchboxes, water bottles, and any, almost anything, and it says your first name and last name, and you can choose little designs on them.
WYNNE: My name is Wynne and I’m going into second grade. I’m seven years old and I am really excited about using my tin can. I can call my friends but I really want to call my teacher too.
Yes! Call your teacher Wynne! I’m sure they’d love that. By the way, the tin can is a wifi landline we did an episode about a few weeks ago.
Kids aren’t the only ones getting antsy about going back to school. Parents are, too. I know from experience, it can be exhausting toward the end of summer to find more activities for the kids. But back to school also means routines and busy schedules pop back up. Which can be good and bad, right? There’s always an adjustment period of getting back into the groove.
So, we decided to ask parents at Wirecutter for products and tips they recommend for making back to school time just a little smoother. For instance, for me, finally getting a straw-cleaning brush has made keeping my kids’ water bottles clean so much easier. I don’t know why I waited so long. That was very stubborn of me! And I’m now so dedicated to having the right tool for the job, I’m planning to get the OXO Good Grips Water Bottle Cleaning Set because it comes with a bottle brush and another brush for cleaning water bottle caps (in addition to a straw brush).
So let’s hear the tips and product recommendations from some of our smart and creative staff. Starting with editorial director Lauren Sullivan:
LAUREN SULLIVAN: Philadelphia schools go back before Labor Day. So I try to counter the devastation of returning to school before summer ends by planning September weekends that mimic summer. So we usually have a shore weekend, I do like a Hershey Park weekend, and a little thing that reminds us that it’s not over is I always keep my LL Bean boat and tote. Stocked with towels, sunscreen, and sunglasses, and I have it on hand by the door, ready to go all summer long, in case we go to the pool, in case go to beach, wherever we’re going. And the boat and tow doesn’t go away when school starts. It stays out, and then summer fades just a little more slowly, and we have things to look forward to that are not just school.
ANDREA BARNES: Hi, I’m Andrea Barnes and I cover cleaning appliances and detergents at Wirecutter. And as a parent of two kids, I really value cleaning hacks that save time and a multi use product, which by default kind of saves money. So my favorite product in this regard is Dawn Power Wash, which is not a dish soap, and is not a laundry detergent, but does the things. That both of those struggle a little bit with. So, if you have a crafty kid who comes home with school glue stains or marker stains or paint stains, Dawn Power Wash is really great for getting those stains out. You just do a spritz, throw it in the wash. But you know, it’s also great for oily, greasy dishes. But I know for me, on a busy school night, I might have… A crusty dish that, like an all-clad pan that can’t go in the dishwasher. And in the past, I would soak it and walk away, and I’d walk away without my dishes done. What’s nice about Dawn Power Wash is I can just spray it. It’s clean within minutes. Boom, I walk away with a clean kitchen, dishes done, and feeling good about it. And my son is about to go to college, and I will be sending him with a bottle of dawn powerWash.
AMY KRAVETZ: Hi, my name is Amy Kravetz. I’m an editor on the baby kid team at Wirecutter. My kids are six and a half and eight and a half years old. One thing I do to try to help keep school mornings running on time is keep an extra set of the kids toothbrushes, toothpaste, my daughter’s hairbrush and some hair ties in our kitchen. So hopefully no one has to go back upstairs once they’re already downstairs.
DAVE YAGER-REISEN: Hi, this is Dave from the YouTube team here at Wirecutter. My son’s entering first grade, but that doesn’t stop him from having a different after school activity every day of the week. We have a great little visual calendar that we got from our LoveEvery set that we keep on the kitchen table and mark which different activities he has each day of week so I can make sure that he has his Taekwondo outfit. His stretchy pants for gymnastics, his swimsuit. He gets to set it up at the beginning of the week. It’s a really fun thing that we can do together that gets him excited about the week, and this way I can make sure that he’s prepared to have all the fun.
NANCY REDD: I’m Nancy Redd, senior staff writer here at wirecutter and a hack that’s worked for me is bulk everything. 30 pairs of underwear, 30 pairs of socks, a giant Costco box of Uncrustables. Having more of what we need keeps us from scrambling and smooths out schedules.
TRACY VENCE: My name is Tracy Vence. I’m an editor covering health and fitness. I’d like to call out the kids umbrella that keeps our family walking to school in all weather. The totes clear bubble umbrella is sized for a small child and creates a personal shield against the elements. It’s easy enough for young kids to open and close themselves and provides plenty of visibility. I do wish it covered a bit more of the backpack, which can stick out into the rain a bit, but it’s all around a functional and delightful tool for our commutes. As with many items meant for young children, the cute factor is off the charts. It’s sure to elicit a smile or two from passersby. I’d also like to shout out the incredible crossing guards who keep us smiling and safe on our way to and from school.
ANNEMARIE CONTE: Well, hello there. I’m Annemarie Conte. I’m a deputy editor at Wirecutter. The big thing that really helped me this year. It started with them at day camps and we’re taking it in to back to school. My kids bring their own lunches to school, they really do not like the cafeteria food, big shock. And we used to send them with hot foods in a 16 ounce thermos that has unfortunately been recalled due to safety issues and so we had to buy something else anyway and because my kids are older they’re 12 and 14 they really do eat more food than they did when they were elementary school students and so, we have bought them 20 ounce insulated thermo flask insulated food jars because they eat more food. And it needs to fit. So we’ll put ramen in there, we’ll put pasta in there. They like pasta-based foods. Remember that your kids are growing up and you might need to adapt what you send them to school in because they grow out of the stuff from elementary school.
RACHEL HURN: Hi, my name is Rachel Hurn. I’m an editor on the baby and kid team here at Wirecutter. And for this school year, I’m pretty excited about these new stainless steel nesting bowls that I got recently from Lalo. It’s a stainless steel cup with a silicone lid, and they’re just really pretty and have nice poppy colors and… I just feel like it’s going to make it kind of fun to pack snacks in and it’ll help keep them cold and it’s nice that it’s not plastic. It just adds a little bit of that, you know, finding joy in the tiniest things to something that can be a little like drudgery.
CHRISTINE: We’re gonna take a quick break. And when we come back, we’ll hear some tips about keeping track of water bottles … and getting your kids out of bed on time. Stick around.
CHRISTINE: We’re back. And we’re celebrating back to school season by getting some tips and tricks from parents at Wirecutter on the items and routines that have made their lives a litttttle easier at this busy time. Let’s take a listen.
LAUREN DRAGAN: I’m Lauren Dragan, senior staff writer at Wirecutter, covering headphones, hearing aids, and other small audio. Alright, this might sound crazy, but we got an airtag for my kids’ water bottle. After losing a couple in a year, it just became not just the cost of the water bottles, but also the mystery of where they were going. And so there have been a couple of times when I am in pickup and my son says, can I see the water bottle map? And we look at my, find my map and he goes, oh, I know exactly where that is and runs off and gets it. We haven’t lost a water bottle in two years. And in fact, we recently got another air tag for his bag. Yes, it sounds silly, but it is a what? $30, $20 investment that has made our lives so much easier.
SIGNE BREWSTER: Hey, this is Signe Brewster. I’m a technology editor at Wirecutter, and a couple of years ago, around back to school time, I started noticing some cargo bikes around town and wondered if that might be something that could help me get my kids to school. Being a wirecutter employee, I could not make a decision without writing an entire guide myself so two years later I have it published, a Wirecutter Guide to Cargo Bikes. It’s something that’s personally changed my life as a mom to a three and a five-year-old every morning and every afternoon. We bike a few miles and drop both kids at daycare and at school. It’s just a really nice time together as a family to get outside and be together and enjoy the sunshine. It’s Something that my kids love just as much as I do. Cargo bikes, they’re bigger bikes that they can fit kids in their backpacks. And sometimes we stop and pick up groceries. Or we’ll bring a bunch of sand toys to the beach or to the playground or something like that. It’s just kind of the minivan of bikes. I’d recommend it to anyone thinking about going back to school and trying to stay outside longer instead of sticking to the car.
JON CHASE: Hi there, this is Jon Chase, the smart home editor for Wirecutter. I find mornings, getting kids to school is a game of minutes, and any time you can shave off a minute here and there, you are good. So a couple little tips, one, I use a bento box, one of our picks. I don’t have to have clean multiple containers, it’s one container, we have two of them, one comes in, one goes out, there’s always one in the wash, that’s for my son. The other thing is, just to get the day started early, before I have to wake these kids up and drag them out of bed, I use some smart devices. I have a smart speaker in the room that starts music, it rises gently in the morning to their favorite station. I have smart shades in their room, which rise and let the sun shine in and blind them and rouse them from their sleep and then I also have a smart bulb in each of their rooms which comes on and slowly rises as well so by the time I go and get them up at like six o’clock in the morning they’ve already been prodded and are less likely to lash out at me which is really the point of all of this.
KATHERINE KAST: I’m Catherine Kast, a senior editor on Wirecutters Discovery Team. I started this trick at the end of the last school year and I think it’s a winner. I’m gonna keep doing it this year. My seven-year-old wears her school clothes to bed the night before. Anything she’s wearing, whether it’s jeans, a dress, she’s wearin’ it to bed. We save pajamas, cute night gowns for the weekends. She’s a great sleeper and this is not a brag. I basically have to drag her out of bed in the mornings along with her toddler little brother. So we need to streamline the routine as much as possible. Setting clothes out the night before just didn’t go far enough. She always wanted to change her mind and we were often late for school. But now, when she wears her clothes the night before, there are no more choices to be made. All we have to do is put on shoes and a jacket downstairs. This year, I’m also adding another layer to this tip, which is putting her socks in a bin next to the shoes by the front door. This way, we won’t have to worry about forgetting them upstairs before we walk out in the mornings.
HARRY SAWYERS: All right, this is Harry Sawyers. I am a senior editor at Wirecutter and the parent to three boys ages 10, 12, and 14 years old. Okay, so the number one thing I’ve learned in nearly a decade getting them out the door on time is to wash their water bottles the night before, empty their lunch boxes after they get home from school, shake out the crumbs, clean out the Tupperware. Why? Because there is Enough going on in the morning already. We spend most of our energy simultaneously giving them breakfast and packing their lunches that same day and refilling those bottles. And you better put some water in the ice cube trays the night before too, because the kids would rather die of dehydration than drink lukewarm water. And last, this one hadn’t come up as much as it did in the earlier years, but when we get in the car, we always still check to make sure they actually have their shoes on. So we don’t end up halfway to school before we realize there’s somebody back there that’s only wearing socks.
CHRISTINE: That’s it for us today! We’ll drop links to the products that our parents recommended in our show notes. And you can find lots more coverage of back to school gear at our website.
The Wirecutter Show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keele. Engineering support from Matty Massiello and Nick Pittman. Today’s episode was mixed by Katherine Anderson. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Rowan Niemisto, Catherine Anderson, and Diane Wong. Cliff Levy is Wirecutters deputy publisher and general manager. Ben Frumin is Wire Cutters editor-in-chief. I’m Christine Cyr-Clisset. Thanks for listening.
