School Supply Shopping

Standing in the school supply isle at Walmart, young children running around me, teenagers arguing with their parents about what type of pencils to buy, and college kids only slightly younger than me with carts full of dorm room items, I stared blankly at the wide verity of writing tools; my son draped over my upper body fast asleep and seeming to weight 100 lbs. I headed out to the store shortly after lunch with an energetic boy in tow thinking I'd run in and pick up a couple notebooks, a box of pens and some folders for paper handouts. My son, who outgrew naps six months ago, passed out in the cart and now that I was in front of the array of products and watching all these people purchase their education, my heart sank. I thought about going home to let him sleep, but this might be the only chance I got to school shop without a 3 year old begging for toys or new books. Overwhelmed and on the verge of a headache, I stayed and tried to determine the most necessary supplies.

I filled a corner of the cart with one 5 subject notebook, a box of pens, a small package of mechanical pencils, a few highlighters and 4 folders for handouts. “This ought to do it,” I thought and headed to the grocery side of the store to pick up a few more items. All in one shopping at Walmart – 7 years ago I despised Walmart for their corporate-ness. Now almost 25 years old with a child and quite a few years of real work experience, I love Walmart. My sleeping son was now awake and back in the cart after I shamefully bribed him in with a pack of pez I had in my purse for a few weeks.

When I returned home I decided to take a look online to see if there were any sites that discussed college school supplies and see if I missed anything. This is something I should have done before I set out on my shopping trip. I am usually overly prepared when I go shopping, but I had the urge to just get this done with so I left the house with a vague idea of what I thought I needed. As I sorted through the various blogs and Yahoo! answers, the overwhelming feeling of being in way over my head grew to new heights. I missed a lot of things on these people’s list. At first thinking the majority of these items weren’t really necessary, I read on… and on. When I realized that I hadn’t even considered the fact that I needed a stapler to bind my assignments together, I wrote out a list and resolved to go back to the store when my sister could watch her nephew.

Three days and roughly $60 later, I feel completely assured that I have everything I will need; perhaps even a few luxury items. I have set up an office area in my room and plan on buying a lap top as soon as funds allow it. I am more organized on a personal level than I have been in a long time. I rarely buy anything for myself, and never do so without also picking something up for my child. During the second shopping trip I put together a little “school” package for Braydon. Pre-school age children don’t need a whole lot and I have yet to discuss specifics with the child care director, but I figured if he didn’t need these items at school, he could use them to do his “homework”. Check out my next blog for a list of back-to-school items for college students, pre-school children and more!