"I didn't buy a Payback Book"

​I have to admit, there was a year when I didn’t buy a Payback Book. I can’t remember if I felt we were up to our eyeballs in coupons or if we simply didn’t have a lot of extra cash. Maybe I didn’t understand that Foothill got $10 of the proceeds from each coupon book sale. For whatever reason, I didn’t get one, and while I can’t recall missing it that year, it seems like Payback Books have now become synonymous with the start of another school year.

My youngest child is a kindergartner now, and yesterday the first thing he wanted to show me when we got home was the Payback Book. Although he can’t read, somehow he can recognize logos (marketers take note) and he kept saying “Daddy will be so excited when I show him this” and my silent thought was, “He will?”

Then I remembered the ritual that my son, daughter and husband share of hunting through the coupon book for a new place to try for Saturday morning breakfast, Sunday lunch or a rainy afternoon activity.  Or maybe it is me that pulls out the Payback Book when we have cabin fever? Regardless, it’s funny how these little things become woven into the fabric of your family.

​To those of you who buy the Payback Books, thank you. It amounts to a couple of thousand of dollars for Foothill and on behalf of the PTO, your support is greatly appreciated. If you happen to be one of those people who can’t get enough coupons and want a few more books, be sure to get in touch with one of our incredible volunteers, Annie Webber who has been heading up the Payback Book distribution for half her lifetime (okay, not really, but for a long, long time). For those of you who take a pass, no worries, we know that coupon books are not for everyone. 

Emily Andrews
Mom to: Grayson, KG, and Ruby (Foothill grad '16)