Parents: How do you celebrate kids going back to school?

Back to school is not just about buying school supplies and new clothes, or figuring out where the bus stop is this year.

For a lot of parents, getting kids out of the house and back on schedule is a palpable relief, as evidenced by the thousands of pictures posted this week on social media with kids lined up with their new backpacks and parents leaping ecstatically nearby or toasting with an adult beverage.

Because one or more of my children would invariably miss a bus, need a vaccination form or slip signed, or have some school-supply crisis, I always took the first two days of school off in order to deal with whatever issues arose. But I made the most of that time, relishing having the whole house to myself and often treating myself to a manicure (a luxury for me).

One Seattle Times editor said she indulged in a mocha from Starbucks on the way back from dropping her kid off this morning. Sometimes, it’s the little things.

Have you found fun ways to celebrate the freedom that comes with sending kids back to school (or off to school for the first time)? We want to hear about it!