What are your back-to-school traditions?

When I was a kid, my sister and I always got new outfits for the first day of school. Because of our limited budget, we knew that this was a special item, so we would spend hours finding the exact right thing. When my son started preschool last year, we went out and got him a brand-new outfit, and all of a sudden I was on the other side of the coin as a parent. I realized that the ritual was just as important for me as a mother as it was for me as a child.

From Real Simple reader CHRISTY H. CARAWAY, Green Cove Springs, Florida