Testing All Moms: School Supplies

I have already done a few ridiculous things for my kids’ education (like camp out at 6:00 am for pre-school sign-up) and I am pretty sure there will be plenty more in my future. This week, it was the kindergarten school supply scavenger hunt. Sure, it sounds like an easy assignment for an aspiring “on-top-of-it-all” kindergarten mom, but it came with more challenges, frustration and bleak moments of facing failure than expected.

I’ll admit, I was working on my back-to-school to-do list a bit later than planned (today is Saturday and school starts on Wednesday), but it is not out of procrastination, but due to a work trip and an end of summer vacation that consumed most of my days in August. But, worth noting, the “official” kindergarten packet, that includes teacher names, classroom assignments, bus schedules and the infamous list of school supplies, did not arrive until last week when we were in Michigan.

So today, I felt the pressure to get my butt in gear and build off a generous head start given to me by Cherylanne, who proactively bought a few extra supplies for any of her slacker neighbors. However, after five stores I came to two big conclusions: 1) I needed to shift my shopping priorities, as I only had three Polo shirts and three pairs of plaid shorts in my bag (bought with the intent to mix and match until I created the perfect first day of school outfit), and 2) some of the items on the list must be fictional, as I had located only one of the assigned supplies. Two more stores and two desperate texts for help later, I was finally down to one last item – the FISKARS child size pointed scissors. It is important to note here that we must buy the exact brand (it has to be an Elmer’s glue stick) and size (it has to be the .77 ounce glue stick) on the supply sheet, which created more issues than my tardiness. All I can guess is that there is some sort of conspiracy (or sick joke) with the school supply powers-that-be, because (believe it or not) if Office Depot carries the 12-pack of Ticonderoga pencils, then they don’t stock the 16-pack of Crayola crayons. Move on to Target. Manufactures, store managers and teachers must be laughing everyone.

But not to be defeated – even after three painful hours of shopping– I came home and went to my old standby. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but like always, Amazon Prime saved the day by offering the complete FISKARS collection and free two-day shipping. Now, Alex is set for his first day of school and I am already dreading my next assignment.