Do You Enjoy Shopping for Back-to-School Supplies or is It a Chore?

I don't think I know which ones you mean. I usually buy the one subject notebooks from Walmart when they're cheap (15 cents each) and the cheap two pocket folders. I should go look at Staples.

Hi Peavey, Good to "see" you. I love the multi-pocket file folders they have at Staples this time of year. I think they only have them for the "back to school" crowd. Do you know the ones I mean? They have a plastic spiral holder on them. I think the one on top is purple. Anyway, I try and get at least one of those in the late summer or early fall. They are getting more expensive each year, though, it seems. Haven't looked to see how much they are this year. May do without it this fall and just use the ones I already have, although they've seen better days : )

Peavey, I just looked at one here and it is called an "8-Pocket Project Organizer." Ask for them; they're great! I've always loved them to keep all sorts of papers or projects organized.

Hi Chickabee, Thanks to you too for the walk down "Memory Lane." I remember all those erasers you mentioned, including the pencil one with the ink eraser inside. I recall you had to use it VERY gently or you got a hole as you said. I didn't have a lunch box because I walked home for "lunch period." I went to Catholic school and lived on the last street in the parish. So it was quite a walk home for me, especially when I was in the lower grades. My street was split down the middle so one side was in one parish and the other side in the next parish. Quite silly to me, especially since my best friend on my street was in the other parish. I too LOVED those new boxes of Crayola crayons. By then my box was all dull and little pieces of broken crayon left. I remember how thrilled I was one year when my mother bought me a box of (I think it was) 72 crayons! I couldn't believe all the colors. It was for use at home and not at school. I LOVED coloring books when I was little. The kids now have all fancy gadgets and sophisticated calculators, etc. to buy in the higher grades. I don't know how parents keep up with the cost of it all!

Hi again Tinym8 - I just had to add something more. Oh, how I remember the big box of crayons. I just had to have it because I, too, loved coloring books. In fact, I sometimes still like to color with my grandchildren. I especially remember when they came out with the "flesh" color. I remember the lunchroom and the really good food they had. I used to get really hungry right before lunch and the good smells coming from there made me hungrier. For 25 cents we got meat, two vegetables, homemade roll and milk. We didn't get a lot of choices, but kids ate much better than now. For one cent they had really big oatmeal and lemon cookies and for five cents you could get an ice cream cup with those flat wooden spoons. For 7 cents the kids would buy two cookies and an ice cream cup and make a delicious "ice cream sandwich". We did have a coke machine and the cokes were 5 cents to begin with and then they went up to 6 cents and had an attachment on the outside of the machine where you put your penny on the honor system. Finally, they went to 10 cents when I was about in the 6th grade and I remember saying that one day cokes would be a quarter and everyone said, "No way". Now look at it. I really did go on. Thanks for reading my memories. chickabee

Hi Chickabee, So glad I'm not the only one that, given the chance, will still color in coloring books. I too remember when the flesh color crayon came out. What a treat that was! When I was very small I wouldn't use the yellow crayon for anything but coloring in the sun. I didn't really like yellow then. My favorite color was red. Every little girl in the coloring book had to have a red dress or red in her plaid dress. : ) I loved red plaid dresses on me or anyone else. When I was in high school my best friend and I would stop in the cafeteria on the way out of school and have a Coke and a wrapped brownie. Delicious! Neither one of us gained an ounce.

I agree. This could be a rough year for many families trying to get the kids ready for school. Our kids went to public school so the clothing expense was high. Three teens at one time was not an easy time. Costly but fun and interesting.

Hi Carolbee, That is an expensive trip when three kids need different supplies. In my day it was at least two new dresses and Mary Jane shoes (or brown leather double-buckle shoes)for back to school. Those were just to get through the first two or three weeks until the school uniforms came in. The first day of school was "measure the kids for uniforms day." : ) I can't imagine the expense now for back-to-school clothes for kids, especially if they are trying to keep up with the brands of clothes their friends are wearing! I can foresee a lot of unhappy kids and a lot of hand-me-down and bargain rack clothes being worn this year. That will be a necessity for many families.

Hi Gloryacam, OK, my secret is out. I still walk the aisles of the school supplies too even though my son is a grown man now. It's still fun to see all the new "gadgets" and the new styles of everything. I still buy a few things for my "home office" once in a while at sales. When the kids like it, the "back-to-school supplies trip" to the store can be a fun yearly outing for parents and kids. It is probably more fun for the kids the last couple of years because the cost for the parents is a strain for many.

Right. But, I hope things are starting to get better now. Oh, but I really love the smell of new notebooks! And, I still use a considerable amount of pens and pencils. So, I still go there.

Hi Monica, Sorry to hear your school supply shop was such a hassle : ( Have never run into a crowd like that for school supplies. There must have been a big sale? I can believe it that you didn't have the money this year. I imagine 90% of people found it at least a bit of a strain this year. The supplies are sooo expensive now too! Unbelievable! I think there will be a lot of credit cards used for school supplies this year, which is a shame. What can be such a fun experience has turned out to be a not-so-fun trip for a lot of people in the last few years.

It's no so fun when everbody else is buying. I think with my mum, we did it early, before the mob would crowd the school supplies store.