Early back-to-school prep
Even before the calendar flipped to August — and by “flipped” I mean metaphorically, of course, because we’re a digital household — it seemed like everybody was talking about back-to-school shopping.
One neighbour came home with new backpacks, water bottles and plastic lunch containers. Another asked me to watch for a package because she was expecting a lunch bag in the mail. Further down the street, a friend already had everything purchased for her kids, except the indoor sneakers.
I was surprised. They had all of that already? I’d wager that I’m looking forward to the first day of school more than any of them (#workfromhomelife) and yet I had bought absolutely nothing.
Well, that’s not true. I’d bought fabric. Lots and lots of fabric, hee hee. I started sewing back-toschool clothes in early July. In our guest room, there’s a growing stack of hidden dresses, shirts, skirts and leggings. I even attempted to sew tights for the first time!
When it comes to the things I don’t sew, I’ve decided I should probably get my head in the game. Do they need new jackets? I have no recollection of what they were wearing last fall and if it might still fit them. It’s so humid that I am nearly weeping, though, thinking of the cool September breezes.
Technically, school supplies isn’t on our agenda because our elementary school doesn’t have us buy our own. Mostly I’m pleased because I’d much rather write a cheque for $30 or $35 and be done with it rather than go all over town trying to find a certain colour of Duo-tang.
Admittedly, it also makes me a little sad because I love roaming around in Staples, oohing and ahhing at pens and binders and notebooks. Of course, I’d easily spend more than $100 — likely way more — so yeah, I suppose it’s a good thing I don’t need to buy supplies.
I refuse to buy any plastic lunch containers this year. We have a massive collection that, surprisingly, always comes home at the end of the school day — thank you, Mabel’s Labels. They don’t need new lunch bags, either (unless they happen to come free with the backpacks I do need to buy).
I could try to be strong and insist I’m not going to buy them new water bottles either, but I know they’ll break me down. I’ll soften, thinking of the faded characters and designs that have been nearly worn away by too many trips through the dishwasher, and I’ll cave — my mind erasing all memories of the perfectly good, fairly new water bottles that are hiding in the cupboard waiting to be used. Fine, they can have new water bottles.
I’m dreading buying the kids new indoor sneakers. I have a history of making bad decisions when it comes to children’s footwear. I either cheap out and buy inexpensive shoes or boots that don’t last — and then repeat the process because I’m sure their feet will grow soon, which they don’t — or I buy pricer pairs and the kids outgrow them too quickly and I get annoyed and revert to cheaping out.
(The latest issue involves my husband taking one of the kids out to the mall and randomly deciding they need new shoes, so he buys another pair and suddenly there are too many pairs of little sneakers cluttering up the front hall closet.)
There isn’t a back-to-school shopping spree in our future, thankfully, but at least I now have a short list rolling around in my brain: backpacks, water bottles and indoor sneakers. Oh, and I’m sure I’ll continue to sew them outfits they don’t really need, but that’s just fun.
Is it September yet? Heather Laura Clarke is a freelance journalist who married her high school sweetheart. They moved from the city to the country, where they spend their days making messes and memories with their eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter. Follow their family’s adventures over at www.heathershandmadelife.com.