That Time of the Year: School Supply Shopping

“May your time in the store be short;
may your wallet be deep;
may the store shelves be well stocked;
and if needed, you might need to end in the wine isle.”
NLT

We ventured north, on a very early morning to get to a Target when it opened, to avoid people in general.  If we have to go out, we want to go when it is the least busy.  We don’t take the kids.   Made that mistake prior with having them in toe and of course they have ideas, opinions, wants, etc. in regard to school supplies and it takes 3 times longer with kids.

Well, 18 black expo markers later, half the cart was full for 2 children.  I should have invested in stock in black expo markers (and toilet paper).  I am not sure how families with 3, 4, 5, etc. kids do it with the cost.  Before we got up to check-out, I guesstimated the total at $80-$100.  Check out total was $99.14.

A few helpful tips and tricks for anyone school supply shopping:

Go without kids (already stated), worth paying a babysitter.

Most of the school supplies are pretty basic.  I didn’t see folders with cartoons, Captain America, camo print, etc. on them.  Most are solid colors for binders, folders, paper booklets, etc.  I just grabbed random colors that I know the boys liked and threw them in the cart.

Go early in the morning when there is no one else in the school supplies section.  It becomes a zoo with parents and kids by 11 am and into the afternoon.  Takes longer to work around other parents and kids while moving a shopping cart.

When I can’t find the right supply item, I improvise.  No large glue sticks, then four regular sized ones will have to do.  Then if I find a large one later on, I will send it to school.

I normally forget to do this, but I need to check their school supplies that were returned the prior year.  I normally get very little to nothing back, which I don’t mind making the donation but this past spring, we got some more back then normal.

Suck it up: I really questioned how much to buy, spend, etc. with COVID-19’s ability to shut down the school within weeks of starting (mentally preparing for).  Then kissing all those supplies good-bye.  Regardless, our kids are going to school, they will need supplies.

Hand sanitizer is a must; face mask; Clorox wipes, etc.  Should have bought stock in Clorox wipes as well.  I completely missed the boat here.

So here we are, stocked up and ready to go.  I am keeping the receipt in case (which most places make it impossible to return items due to COVID) but just in case.  Going to bag it all up and ship it with the kids on the first day of school seeing how there is no meet the teacher night for returning students (understandable).

To all parents, I wish you luck as you head into the school supply isles over the next couple of weeks.  May your time in the store be short; may your wallet be deep; may the store shelves be well stocked; and if needed, you might need to end in the wine isle.