Back to School Shopping and Other Insanity

Getting our kids ready for school is always an ordeal, involving days of preparation. For starters, there's the clothes-buying part of it, which is really rough if you are the parent of a teenager, as I happen to be. Here's a sample of a recent conversation I had with my son:

"We have to get you some new clothes for school."

"Why? I don't need any new clothes."

"Don't you want new jeans for school?"

"No."

We were in Costco at the time, and I eventually persuaded him to accept a pair of considerably-discounted Lucky jeans, which found favor with him when he tried them on at home. So that was the extent of our clothes-buying.

And then there was the lunch issue. We continued along the aisles at Costco, snagging luncheon meat; bread; snacks; Vitamin Water. After all, I want my son to actually eat his lunch. He can't share all of it with his friends.

And then there was the school supplies issue. Before I go any further, I want to mention an article I just read that upset me. Associated Press's article "Strapped Shoppers Put Pens, Pencils on Layaway" is excellent coverage of the strain the recession is putting on parents everywhere, particularly when we're getting our kids ready for school. I have referenced this article below, and I recommend you check it out if and when you have the time. It is heartbreaking to me that anyone would have to put school supplies on layaway. I empathize with these parents, as someone who has been similarly leveled by the recession, and I hope they find relief soon. (And me, too.)

I have a bone to pick with our kids' teachers regarding school supplies. We send our kids off to school with brand-new clothes, binders, pens, pencils, protractors, calculators and God only knows what else we anticipate they'll need. Then, after the first day of school, they come home with lists of completely different stuff they're going to need for each of their classes. As the daughter, granddaughter, sister and niece of many teachers, I have a certain amount of fearlessness related to this issue. I send my son off on the first day of school with a binder, ruled paper, and some pencils and pens, and then I lurk at home, waiting for those inevitable lists from his teachers. Then, once I get them, my son and I take a casual stroll around his room and try to see if anything can be salvaged from the prior school year. If he needs anything else, we go shopping for it.

I have to share an experience that just blows my mind, related to school supplies. For the last two school years, I have somehow gotten away with buying only a backpack, a few folders and a notebook or two. This year, after reviewing all of my son's lists and the inventory of what he had, we discovered he already had everything he needed. After countless prior trips to Office Depot, and buying huge amounts of lined paper, Number 2 pencils and folders, it appears we are stocked to the gills.

I always look for meaning, morals or whatever in situations like these. So, what am I to learn here? Is this an example of our overconsumption? Or hoarding? Am I not buying him what he actually needs? Are his teachers putting enough stuff on their lists of school supplies? Does school actually get less expensive as the student gets older? (That's not what I've heard from other parents.)

Okay, here's my two cents. I think this back-to-school shopping stuff, at least in part, is a calculated maneuver by the clothing and stationery industries to promote sales. Approach back-to-school shopping with extreme caution -- don't buy more stuff than your student actually needs, and don't let those retailers see the whites of your eyes. And when you end up with mammoth amounts of lined paper, Number 2 pencils, markers and poster board, store it carefully in one particular place in your home. Then bring the stuff out next year, and ask your student if he or she would be willing to use it. You may be surprised. I brought out some folders from last year and asked my son if they were acceptable. Last year he'd rejected them because he didn't like the design on them. He accepted the folders, and I couldn't resist:

"Interesting. You wouldn't use those folders last year because you didn't like the design on them."

"That's not true. I don't remember those folders, and I don't mind the design. I'll use them."

Whatever.

Sources:

Personal experience

To read Associated Press's recent article on parents' struggle to buy school supplies for their kids, you can check it out here.