A Grinch shirt. Sports day shirt. Crazy hair day. 100 days of school T-shirts. Extra book fair money so your “kids don’t have trauma the way you did.” These are just a few of the zillions of items parents might have left off their back-to-school shopping list, according to one hilarious Instagram mom’s rant.
Joking aside, one study indicates that 87% of parents with children under 18 report feeling stressed during the back-to-school season. Another shows that 60% of parents are driven to tears and spend just over two entire work days coordinating family schedules. Additionally, more than half of parents struggle to balance their personal and professional responsibilities during the back-to-school chaos.
To prepare for this chaotic time of year, working parents can secure products now that make life easier before they are a month into the school year, neck deep in homework help and trying to take a conference call from the other room at the same time.
“The truth is, stress multiplies when decisions pile up. And during seasons like back-to-school, everything feels urgent. That’s why a little prep—paired with the right tools—can go a long way in making things feel more manageable,” says Laura Hunter, co-founder of Moms on Call, pediatric nurse and mom of five.
Back-to-school clothes
They say getting dressed is half the battle. Here are some products that will help you win.
Stitch Fix: A styling service for kids
They are still figuring out who they are—and how to express themselves through clothes. Meanwhile, you don’t have time to go to seven stores to help them determine just what that looks like. Enter: Stitch Fix for kids, where you help your kid take a quiz, skip the store and get access to a first box of styles for free. You only pay for the items you decide to keep, and send the rest back. From there, you can determine your delivery frequency and budget for clothes.
Kiziks’ hands-free shoes
You can now literally squeeze and pop on your baby’s and toddlers’ shoes. Your elementary-age kids can also slide right into their shoes while they race outside for the bus—no tying required. Eliminating difficult shoes that need loosening, double-knotting or help from a parent might be the best gift working parents give themselves this season. Be warned, though—you’ll want a pair of your own, too.
Toddlers who dress themselves with Carter’s new line, Otter Avenue
One of the biggest time sucks is getting toddlers dressed in the morning. Many parents have missed an older kid’s bus, or their first meeting, while negotiating with a toddler over whether their pants are on backwards (pro tip: skip the battle!). The new line from Carter’s called Otter Avenue seeks to empower toddlers to solve their clothing conundrums with a cute “F” bubble letter on the front of clothes, larger and easier-to-navigate buttons and other accessibility features that mean more time for parents to get ready.
The perfect working mom jumpsuit
If you haven’t jumped on the jumpsuit train yet, you are missing out on some serious ease when it comes to getting dressed on busy mornings. Boden’s Gwen Slash Neck Jumpsuit and Anthropologie’s Shirting Parachute Jumpsuit will both have you ready to run as a working mom juggling all the things.
Food
To pack or to buy? That is the question.
Personalized lunch boxes from Bentgo
You are going to want a personalized Bentgo Modern Lunch Box, as are your older kids. Younger kids might have more fun with the Pop Lunch Box. But all can be personalized, preventing mix-ups and making lunch prep much easier.
Cerebelly fruit and veggie smoothie pouches
Who says fruit and veggie pouches are just for babies? Cerebelly’s sweet potato banana blueberry smoothie offers even teens a grab-and-go option when they need something to hold them over between the last bell and band practice. These smoothies have no added sugar and also work well as a quick morning breakfast.
B. Box’s spill-resistant drink bottle
Durable and easy to use, this spill-resistant bottle is great for keeping kids hydrated throughout the school day without extra cleanup. There are a variety of sizes suitable for kids, but make sure to get yourself the 23-ounce insulated spill-resistant bottle for carpool and the office. Also consider removable labels for these and other supplies.
Organization tools for back-to-school
Calendars and schedules and apps and plans and meetings, oh my.
A 2025-2026 Clever Fox academic student planner
The Clever Fox planner’s monthly and weekly pages help keep elementary through college-aged students on top of their assignments during the academic year. The planner has room for their endless schedules, goal tracking, and even has stickers (which you’re never too old for!). Your student couldn’t ask for a better tool to keep them organized.
Coordinated digital or magnetic calendar
“Whether it’s a shared Google calendar or a family-style dry-erase board on the fridge, having one central hub where caregivers, spouses and family can view and update the weekly schedule takes so much pressure off your mental load,” Hunter says. She recommends Cozi, a family organizer app to easily color code and manage every school, extracurricular and family life event.
ARTKIVE’s solution to paper overload
You are about to get inundated with papers. If you haven’t found a book report or drawing from your kid’s elementary school mixed in with one of your work papers recently, are you even parenting in 2025? ARTKIVE’s solution is to turn the most keepsake-worthy papers into a book to preserve what you want to save, and give yourself permission to recycle the rest.
Technology to ease the transition
The home phone—hold the spam, from Tin Can
Picture this. You’re racing home from your last meeting, but you know the bus is going to beat you by five minutes. Your kids are too young to have phones (or you don’t want them to have smartphones yet), and you need to get ahold of them. However, traditional home phones have a serious spam call problem. Enter the Tin Can Flashback. This phone doesn’t need Wi-Fi and won’t allow spam calls. Rather, it only permits calls from numbers approved by you and your kids. This innovative yet simplistically retro device connects directly to your internet router. We also can’t wait for their new style coming soon.
The Good Inside app: A parenting coach in your pocket
From bullies to grades, back to school season isn’t just about logistics and schedules. Instead, it’s rife with emotional needs and big feelings from kids of all ages. Created by clinical psychologist Dr. Becky Kennedy, Good Inside is an app that helps you parent on the go. It provides feedback in the moment, whether dealing with teens slamming doors and telling you to go away or younger kids with oversized tantrums. You’ll find tangible takeaways such as what to do when you get triggered that your kid is being super rude.
A reusable digital notebook
For older kids, consider the Rocketbook. It’s a reusable notebook, meaning students won’t need to keep track of different notebooks for each class. Rather, notes can be uploaded to a laptop. It just might be the trick to convincing any reluctant notetaker to be a bit more involved this semester. Beware: You might end up wanting one for work, too, when you see how it works.
Hunter also says to remember that “the point isn’t to do everything perfectly. It’s to set yourself up so the little things don’t constantly demand your attention. When we take care of the basics and lean into tools that support our routines, we free ourselves up to be more present with the people who matter most. And when we approach it all with grace, we find a rhythm that’s peaceful, not perfect—and that’s enough.”
Photo by Evgeny Atamanenko/Shutterstock.com
