Anonymous wrote:My kids always got a brand new backpack every year. It was part of the fun of back-to-school. Once they were in middle school and high school, we stopped getting new ones every year. But in elementary school? Of course! I actually thought pretty much everyone did.

We did this, too despite not being low-income.

REDUCE comes before "reuse" and "recycle" for a reason.

Anonymous wrote:I get my kid a new backpack every year- whatever she is into that year. That's been everything from Monster High to a no-character brand name backpack. This is partly so that she gets excited for the school year, and partly to repel snobby kids who will misidentify her as poor.

Me too. Not a big deal. DD (rising 6th grader) just donated all but one of the backpacks she's had since k. All of them were in great shape.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This will last through middle school -- unless your kids are extra tough on it...
https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/62209?feat=816-GN1&page=deluxe-book-pack-print&csp=f&attrValue_0=Periwinkle%20Sky%20Chevron

Bags are a fashion statement for the kids. That LL Bean bag is ugly but practical, I wouldn't buy it for myself or kids. Kids get teased about their backpacks BTW. I let my kids pick whatever backpack color theme each year, but I wouldn't buy the $100+ bags until they were in older and they understood it would only be replaced if it wore out - which took years.

A fashion statement. I'm having a good day when my 7-year-old daughter doesn't insist on wearing a camp t-shirt or clothes that clash, I really doubt she's given much thought to how fashionable her backpack is. When I picked up my DD yesterday, she commented that she needed to make sure her name was in her backpack because "lots of people have the same one, and I don't want them to take mine by mistake", and I also see a lot of them at school. We must be in some weird, UMC fug-zone where LL Bean is acceptable. My kids like all the compartments in them, too.

I also always love the "kids get teased!" argument -- are you really going to make purchase and parenting decisions based on elementary school teasing? It's a backpack, not dressing your kid up in a 70s leisure suit. I'd rather my kid be able to roll their eyes and realize that someone teasing them about their backpack is just silly and not so serious that we've got to go out and purchase something to cater to the whims of a school-yard bully. My kids have been teased about their names, the fact that one of them wears glasses, their interest or lack of interest in Pokemon/Minecraft/Legos/whatever the fad toy du jour is, too. We will hit a point, too, at which we can't buy them the latest do-dad that "everyone" else has and I'd rather start with small disappointments and teach some coping skills.

Interesting thread.

I can't recall what I used before middle school. In middle school, I got a new, cheap backpack / tote whenever the old one wore out. Something like the ubiquitous Esprit tote or Benetton bucket bag.

In 9th grade, I got a basic Jansport and used it all through HS.
For a graduation present, I got an Eddie Bauer backpack that I used all through college & grad school (still have it 21 years later).
When I was doing my PhD and commuting by Metro, I got a big, huge, more ergonomic Jansport with a laptop sleeve.

I try to be pretty minimalist, and choose quality and practicality over novelty.

DS is only a toddler, but we got the LLBean junior backpack as his diaper bag and hope it takes him through 3rd grade.
We have a new LLBean stashed away in the next size up that I assume will take him through middle school.

I'm sure there will be a sport bag or something else in there at some point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you whose child used the same LLBean backpack for K-3 (or more than a year or two), which size did you buy?

Don't buy the junior size. I bought the next size up from junior at LLBean. Just picked a solid color and it lasted K-3.

The junior has worked great for our average-sized DD, who is a rising 3rd grader. Fits well, plenty of room. My older kid has the next size up, and it's comically huge on the younger one.

We don't, and neither kid has ever asked. Both have LL Bean backpacks that they picked out in their favorite colors and matching lunch boxes.

My older one is getting a new one this coming year because the current backpack is nasty (has lasted five years, and this past year, it started out looking perfectly fine and now is barely recognizable as its original color) -- he's going to complain because he doesn't like to give up his old stuff, but washing hasn't helped at all.

I find it weird that backpacks are some sort of moral victory or socioeconomic indicator. It's a backpack. It totes stuff back and forth from school. Buy a new one, don't buy a new one -- who cares?

I posted earlier. We don't get new backpacks yearly, but we do get new lunch boxes when the old ones get gross and can't be successfully cleaned anymore.

I only buy new backpacks for the kids every few years, once they wear out. I do wash them on delicate at Christmas break and when school ends. Buy a quality backpack and it will definitely last for at least a few years.

I replace lunch boxes every year because they don't hold up as well as backpacks and often smell bad, despite washing.

If not the cost factor, think of the environment. No need to buy new every year.

Every year here. My kid is going to 3rd and I buy lands end each year(preK-2nd) and by year's end it's time for a new one. I do hope this one last a couple of years.

Anonymous wrote:I get my kid a new backpack every year- whatever she is into that year. That's been everything from Monster High to a no-character brand name backpack. This is partly so that she gets excited for the school year, and partly to repel snobby kids who will misidentify her as poor.

In less your kid has a trust fund or a job, all kids are poor. Their parents have money but they don't.

DS1 had one backpack PreK through K, then it was too small. It got handed down to DS2 for PreK.

DS1 had a second backpack 1-3. LL Bean, had a "cool" (according to him) shark picture on it. It is now used for overnight trips to Grandma's.

Last year (kids going in to K and 4th), we got both kids a new backpack while on summer vacation. It's not a character backpack, but is reminiscent of our trip. It's been a fun souvenir from vacation. It's not as high quality, though, and I'm not sure they'll last through next year. So we may buy new backpacks again this summer.

Lunch boxes - generally every year, sometimes we keep one for a second year. This is part of the fun of getting excited for a new school year. My boys don't get excited about shopping for new school clothes or shoes, but they love picking out a new lunch box!

Anonymous wrote:Anyone like lands end?

Yes. My K son has one and it looks like it's going strong into 1st.

We bought an llbean jr backpack in my son's favorite color before K. He's now a rising third grader and I think he will keep using it in 3rd grade. It's washable. We will get a bigger one when he needs it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two girls ages 6 and 9. Neither has ever asked me for a character backpack despite both of them loving princesses at various ages and being allowed plenty of screen time. We are going on year 4 of their monogrammed PBK backpacks and lunch boxes. I am amazed they lasted this long but they have! I am perfectly willing to replace them at this point (with either new PBK or LLBean) and would do so if either child remotely expressed interest in a new bag pack. Until then I'm going to keep my mouth shut.

Because your 6yo requested going to PBJK for backpacks, riiight. You drove them there and allowed hem to select from the bags at PBK, leaving the Target options off the table. If only us peasants could be as classy as thou.

?? They are not blind or stupid and they visit Target with me all the time. They are not shy about asking for things. And they have never asked for a character backpack.