Every year I look forward to this ritual--I always loved it as a kid. Every year, I forget the previous year's experience and that it never quite lives up to my childhood memories. It's usually just me and the Short People, but occasionally Muh Main Man goes along. Yesterday, since we are getting down to the wire, we decided to go during the day with just three of us.
I always glance over the two lists and think to myself that it's not that bad, it's not going to cost much and we'll get it done in a flash. I'm always wrong. I'm not a big piecemeal shopper--I tend to go where I can get most of it in one shot. The list always looks quite short so price comparison never seems that important.
So yesterday we headed out to our Kmart which is kind of by the wayside and doesn't get that much traffic. Of course, they only had about a third of what we needed and it cost about a third more than other places. But I was determined, so in the cart it went. Now Brainy Boy is a "tick it off the list" kind of shopper. He doesn't care what color or style it is as long as it's on the list. I prefer the cool-looking stuff, but he doesn't want to bother. He ended up with quite the collection of black, white and blue notebooks and accessories. He's happy with that. Little Chic, on the other hand, discovered the new Crayola Total Tools which are half as useful and twice as costly as the regular variety. I like snazzy and all, but I'm also into functional and these didn't look it. I did give in and let her get the glue and the highlighter, but the other stuff had to be the normal ones.
Next stop was Target, where we got another third of the list checked off including backpacks. Brainy Boy's is black. Plain black. It does have the handle and rollers but that's about as fancy as it gets. Little Chic went for the tiger motif to match our school mascot and it looks like it will hold up probably until Halloween. Fortunately it was cheap.
Last stop was Staples where we succeeded in finding the last few remnants of our list and I put my foot down refused to by the Easy Button that they have prominently displayed in the front of the store. For some reason, my intelligent children actually think that hearing that thing say "That was Easy" over and over is as fun sitting and playing video games all day.
We ended the day with everything we needed and succeeded in spending a full $100 beyond what I anticipated. I'm sure we could have gotten it cheaper if our school hadn't been so determined to conceal teacher assignments (with their corresponding supply lists) until the last possible minute. As if that will actually prevent determined parents to complain that Joey got the meanest teacher in the school. Anyway, we're done, packed, labeled and ready for the big day, so bring it on!
I always glance over the two lists and think to myself that it's not that bad, it's not going to cost much and we'll get it done in a flash. I'm always wrong. I'm not a big piecemeal shopper--I tend to go where I can get most of it in one shot. The list always looks quite short so price comparison never seems that important.
So yesterday we headed out to our Kmart which is kind of by the wayside and doesn't get that much traffic. Of course, they only had about a third of what we needed and it cost about a third more than other places. But I was determined, so in the cart it went. Now Brainy Boy is a "tick it off the list" kind of shopper. He doesn't care what color or style it is as long as it's on the list. I prefer the cool-looking stuff, but he doesn't want to bother. He ended up with quite the collection of black, white and blue notebooks and accessories. He's happy with that. Little Chic, on the other hand, discovered the new Crayola Total Tools which are half as useful and twice as costly as the regular variety. I like snazzy and all, but I'm also into functional and these didn't look it. I did give in and let her get the glue and the highlighter, but the other stuff had to be the normal ones.
Next stop was Target, where we got another third of the list checked off including backpacks. Brainy Boy's is black. Plain black. It does have the handle and rollers but that's about as fancy as it gets. Little Chic went for the tiger motif to match our school mascot and it looks like it will hold up probably until Halloween. Fortunately it was cheap.
Last stop was Staples where we succeeded in finding the last few remnants of our list and I put my foot down refused to by the Easy Button that they have prominently displayed in the front of the store. For some reason, my intelligent children actually think that hearing that thing say "That was Easy" over and over is as fun sitting and playing video games all day.
We ended the day with everything we needed and succeeded in spending a full $100 beyond what I anticipated. I'm sure we could have gotten it cheaper if our school hadn't been so determined to conceal teacher assignments (with their corresponding supply lists) until the last possible minute. As if that will actually prevent determined parents to complain that Joey got the meanest teacher in the school. Anyway, we're done, packed, labeled and ready for the big day, so bring it on!
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donna s.