No one told me how easy it would be to forget.

They told me to get the backpack. The lunchbox. The folder with pockets.

They told me what to expect on the first day of preschool. (Half day. Mom stays.)

But no one prepared me for what happens after that…

How they quietly slip out of one season and into the next. How you don’t even realize you’ve forgotten the version of them from just one year ago.

When was it that he stopped holding your hand in the parking lot?
When did she stop writing her Ps and Bs backward and upside down?
And what about that joke he made at breakfast — the one that made you snort coffee out your nose — how did it go, again?

You think you’ll remember.

But the truth is: they change so fast, it’s hard to keep up.

Hi, I’m Tracey! I’m the mom of 4 kids — from toddler to middle schooler...

And I’m right there with you. Field Trips. Fundraisers.

Three sets of exploding backpacks coming home from school every day …plus an almost-preschooler “writing” on every surface she can find (including the walls)!

I created The School Years because I needed a solution for my own family.

🚫 Not a cutesy scrapbook

❌ Not an cardboard box bursting with crumpled art projects I’d eventually shove in the attic

I wanted something that could help me remember who they were at every age — without having to be the perfect Pinterest scrapbook mom.

Because in my decade+ as a mom, I’ve learned this:

As your children grow into the school years…

Time only goes faster
Their schedules get even busier
And you still want to hang onto every single memory of them

Even more so, honestly, because in the school years, they’re becoming more and more their own person.

And it’s magic to watch. ✨

But it’s so gradual, it can slip by without you noticing, even when you’re trying hard to pay attention!

The year my second child started school, the overwhelm hit hard.

Precious things were coming home constantly — stick figure drawings of our family, the spelling test they got 110% on, the note from the teacher that made me cry (in the best way).

And what could I do with it all?

Let’s just say… I had a pile.

…a discarded Amazon box.

…an overflowing kitchen drawer.

And a heap of mom-guilt that all those sweet memories didn’t have a real home.

So, I built a new way…

We did it like we do everything else — as a family.

First, I tried chucking everything into one fabric bin for each kid. But that quickly became chaos. Then, I tried accordion folders, which were exploding in no time.

Finally, I settled on the easy-to-use system you see today: all things school years organized in minutes a week, complete with neat labels and oh so precious pre-printed annual interviews.

Then, my software developer husband Tyler jumped in to help create an app that makes the personalized name stickers.

Yes, my kids still climb into my lap during Zoom calls and draw on all my sticky notes. (Now that’s a family-run business!)

No, I’m not the mom who always gets it right. But I am the mom who finds a way.

A way to make it simple.

Beautiful.

A way to help us remember.

When I’m not designing memory-keeping systems, you’ll find me…

🧋 Reading a suspense novel with a tall caramel mocha frappuccino (light, double-blended, no whip, with extra caramel, please)

💬 Exchanging cute kid stories with my mom-friends

🍨 Or out on a ‘mom date’ to the ice cream shop, soaking up time with one of my kiddos

We still live in our hometown in the Pacific Northwest — where Tyler and I met after we graduated from the same high school — and where we love making family memories hiking, biking, and skiing together.