Why the name Box Top Dad?

A professional friend recently told me he'd visited this spot but didn't get the name of my blog. I then realized when launching this blog I didn't explain the reason for its name. So here it is.

I am the coordinator for the Box Tops for Education program at my daughter's elementary school in Jerome, Idaho. Never heard of it before? Of course, not the school, I'm talking about the program. You're probably more familiar with it than you might realize.

Think back to the time you poured your last bowl of Cheerios (or other favorite General Mills cereal). On top of the box, and sometimes lately even in one of the corners on the front of the box, is a postage-stamp-sized coupon outlined with a dotted line. The coupon or "box top" is worth 10 cents when a participating school submits it back to General Mills. Throughout both the school year and summer break, I coordinate our school's efforts to educate students and their families about the program, identify box tops on products they buy, clip and save them and get them into the school.

As one of my work colleagues said when I explained the program to her: "Oh, I thought there was some reason for those. I figured someone would want them. I felt guilty just throwing them away."

After reading this post and you find that you purchase items that have box tops on their packaging and usually just throw them away, please stop. Start collecting them in an envelope or plastic bag. Once you've got a few, please go and do one of two things.

• Find a student in your neighborhood and give them your collection. They should know what to do with them. If they don't know what to do with them, see the next option.

• Consider sending your envelope to me. Leave a comment on this post if you're interested in helping collect box tops for my daughter's school. I'll get in contact with you after you post.

To learn more about the Box Tops for Education program or to become a coordinator yourself, click here.

Remember everything, even fireworks

It's Wednesday and time for another Evernote use.

Evernote's tag line is "Remember everything." I'm finding out it's true.


After finding a few firework varieties my kids really enjoyed this year, I took pictures of the packaging of our at-home fireworks show after the sparks went out. I don't typically spend much on fireworks. (I think this year's show cost $20.) Next year I plan to pull up these pictures from Evernote while standing in line at the fireworks stand. I hope Evernote helps me spend my money next year to get the stuff my kids enjoyed the most and avoid fireworks they thought were duds.

Evernote Wednesday: Birthday gifts

Recently I celebrated a birthday. So for this week's Evernote Wednesday post, I thought I'd share my tips for both giving and getting gifts. First, giving them.

Ever walked through the store with your spouse and hear them say: "I like that!" or "I could use one of those!" Those moments often seem to advertise a great gift idea for the future. Of course, it's hard to remember them when birthdays, anniversaries or Christmas rolls around. But recently when one of those moments happens, I've been hanging behind in the aisle, waiting for my wife to turn the corner. Then I snap a photo with my iPhone and later upload the photo into a list called: Wife's gifts. I tag it with "gifts" for easy searching. If I ever think of something that would be a useful or fun gift when at home, I enter the item into the same note in plain text. So far shopping for gifts in 2011 has been much easier.

I've also been using it for myself. There's always things I need or want, but when birthday time comes around and people start asking, "What do you want?" I can rarely remember these things. Now I have a list. And with my parents or siblings or wife, I even feel comfortable e-mailing them the note from Evernote.

Maybe Evernote could help you avoid just-another-tie gifts.