Photo by LIV2TCH

My husband and I went to Parent's Night last week to meet my son's first grade teacher. I sat at my son's desk and wrote a note (I'm proud of you! Please eat your lunch.") in his journal for him to see the next morning. He was so excited! The teacher made sure all the parents left notes or pictures in the books before they left because the children were so looking forward to it.

It broke my heart to think of the child who would come in the next morning and find nothing in his book because his parents weren't there.

Our particular event was packed, but I know from reading in The Cafe that many parents -- especially dads -- do not attend Parents Night.

Photo by happylark60

It's picture day next week, which means I only have a few more days to decide if I'm going to cough up the $35-$50 for photos of my first-grader standing in front of a backdrop of books with a fake smile pasted on his face. Oh, how I wish he would look as cute and natural as this lad at right.

My daughter always looks like she's on the verge of tears in her shots, she hates picture day so much.

But for some reason I feel guity if I don't order the school photos, even though I don't really like them. I prefer natural, candids to posed shots of children. I guess I always order a package in the end because when I look them years from now, they will sort of chronical my kids' journey through school.

Plus the grandparents go crazy for them. My mother always wants the huge 8 x 10 that's almost as big as the photo display table itself.

Make Your Own Open-Faced Sandwich

Kids choose favorite toppings for DIY sandwich

I've been loving the 30 Days; 30 Lunches series over on Cookie. And these aren't boring old PB&J between two slices of bread lunch ideas either.

They're great ideas for the inventive and creative lunch-maker in you and your child.

Photo by Curveymama

One of the most popular journal posts on CafeMom this week is from a teacher, Amileegirl. She offers some straight-forward advice to parents who don't think the school's rules should apply to their child. I love it. Here are some highlights:

"If you do your child's homework for them, they don't get the benefit of practice and likely miss important lessons. You already graduated, so put down the worksheet."

Photo from Pioneer Woman

I was never homeschooled. But Ree's (a.k.a. Pioneer Woman's) in-home schoolroom makes me wish I was.

Photo from Pottery Barn Kids

Choose a backpack with no name or initials only

to keep your kid safe.

Recently, I wanted to get my daughter a cute tote bag customized with her name and my mother looked at me like I was insane. A third-grade teacher for 35 years, she said, "You never put a kid's name on their backpack or any place it's visible to strangers."

Using a child's name is one of the first and easiest ways for a bad person (kidnapper, pedophile, etc) to establish trust with your child.

For example, if someone says, "Hey, Sofie, how are you? I'm so-and-so, a friend of your mom, and she told me to pick you up today," your child is more likely to believe it because the person knew her name.

A Florida mom was sick of waiting for hours every day, in a line of cars, to pick her daughter up from elementary school.

So what did she do?

She arrived to pick up her daughter on horseback.

But all did not go according to plan...

Photo From Betty Crocker

Need a break from peanut butter and jelly? These yummy Peanut Butter and Banana Wraps from Betty Crocker would make for a healthy, wholesome lunch or after-school snack.

Photo from The Official White House Photostream

Today, President Obama is delivering a back-to-school speech to the nation's school children. Supporters are excited about the President's message: Students should study hard and take responsibility for their own eduction. But opponents are accusing him of using the speech to plug his legislative agenda; some parents even kept their children home from school so they didn't have to watch the speech!

Despite all the controversy, there's one part of the speech that educators are hoping isn't ignored...

Do you use MealPayPlus? It's a Web-based payment program that allows parents to pre-pay for school lunches and view their kids' purchases online or by phone. Some schools have been doing it for a few years; others are just signing on now because of the program's many advantages...