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My son started pre-school this year. In my mind he is light years away from Kindergarten and summer camp, sleepovers and Boy Scouts, but in reality that time is creeping up on me all too soon. As I look around at the back to school circus that currently surrounds us, I have time to think about what it is that my boy will carry with him. I proudly wore a record bag with an embroidered Tardis on it when I was in school, and the first lunch box I got for him when he started daycare was The Avengers. I work in a Middle school, and having seen the piles of stuff that kids accumulate in the hallways, I took a look around at the personalized boxes. In Maine that usually means LL Bean, to this photo crazy mama, it means the new line of back to school products from Snapfish.
The first thing I ordered were the bag tags for both my sons. We travel a lot, and now that I am getting to see the possessiveness of one child over another when it comes to "my things", it seems wise to invest in some labeling for their travel bags. While my six month old was content to chew on his, my toddler was captivated, and tried to attach it to pretty much everything with a handle. He was unable to work the strap however, and so I feel good about the tag's ability to withstand both a transatlantic flight and a playful little boy. I would have preferred to be able to enter our address online and have it printed on the tag, but although it seemed as though this was an option, it wasn't, so Sharpie it is. Altogether I am happy that my kids will be able to identify their bags, even if everyone else in their Maine class has the same LL Bean backpack!
Since my eldest will soon be venturing out on field trips, and his father has absconded with his Avengers lunch bag, Toby gets a new one. I was a little disappointed that the lunch boxes offered by Snapfish through Frecklebox didn't have any options for including a picture. There are many options that my geekling would have loved, monsters, robots, dinosaurs, but I opted for the campsite lunch box, hoping to encourage his love of the outdoors. It took longer to arrive than I was expecting, I have been ruined forever by Amazon Prime, but it was worth the wait. The lunch boxes are made of .30 millimeter tin, which is lead free, and covered with printed, laminated high-tack adhesive on all sides. My favorite part is the chalkboard on the inside lid. Though my son has yet to reach reading age, I will enjoy leaving him little pictures and I am sure the odd package of chalk will make it's way in for his own use. Measuring 7-5/8" x 6-3/4" x 4", it is roomy enough for lunch and a cool pack, but small enough for little hands. So far he seems to prefer storing his cars in it. My husband picked at the adhesive for a while to see how it would hold up, the main pictures will stand the test of time, but the edging may give way to little fingers pretty quickly. However, given that it has been in my sons hands for a few weeks now with just a few minor dents, I feel pretty good about it's ability to withstand abuse.
The line of back to school products at Snapfish also includes personalized notebooks through Frecklebox. Though I prefer to think outside the box, ahem, and would opt for a photo notebook through Snapfish and Paper Coterie. I have purchased several over the years and have found the quality to be excellent.
I was provided with a lunchbox and tag to review.
