Back to School

One great thing about having older kids is that shopping for school supplies is ridiculously easy now.

Then:

• A two-page supply list for each kid
• At least an hour at Staples/Walmart, with a side trip to Walmart/Staples for items we couldn't find at the first stop
• A cart literally heaped with tissues, notebook paper, pack of exactly three glue sticks, dry erase markers, pencils, the largest possible 3-ring binder, paper, index cards, 3-hole punch
• At least one tantrum (mine)
• Total cost of $119, plus future therapy bills for the kids

Now:

• Three 1-inch binders and a pack of mechanical pencils
• Total cost of $18
• Only a little PTSD

Who said having teenagers was hard?

We actually did have to make two stops this year. When we went to get in line to pay at Staples, there was one—one!—cash register open, and a line that stretched all the way to the back of the store. On the Sunday afternoon before the first day of school! Thank goodness we had invested approximately three minutes choosing the binders/pencils, which made it easy to simply put down our basket and leave. I felt horrible for the families with the hugely piled carts...once you've located each and every requested item, and said no to an equal number of extras, how can you possibly walk away? And do it all again somewhere else?