K, so can you even believe that summer is coming to a close, and school is starting up again soon? It feels like just last week we were celebrating the last day of school and throwing parties and making summer plans. Where has the time gone?
We have one last beach trip to sneak in before my cute Pickle becomes a third grader (what the crap!?!) and little J goes to Mother’s Day out twice a week (hallelujah!). It’s like I want time to stand still, but seriously…it’s like the stores and local school districts have other plans. The school supplies have been out for at least a month now, and I’m starting to realize it’s time to give in and get to gettin.’
Whether you’re one of those really organized people who get all your kids’ supplies super early, or, if you’re like me, and wait til a week or two before school starts, there are a couple of things you can do to keep the chaos of getting ready to go back to school to a minimum.
And all it takes is this one piece of paper: The School Supply List
*Snag a copy of your child’s school supply list. I found mine at Target, but you can also get them at the school, the grocery store, or even in some drug stores like Walgreens.
*Take the list home. Do NOT start shopping right now. You will loose money on the deal if you do.
*SHOP YOUR HOUSE. You know your sweet angels came home with perfectly good school supplies from last year. I’m pretty sure that some things can be reused this year, like scissors, unused glue sticks, paper that was never opened, etc. Shop the house first and mark those items off your list.
*Once you have shopped the house for school supplies, go into your sweet baby’s big boy’s room and shop his closet. Write out a list of clothes and other things he will need this year on your school supply list. Keeping it all together on one paper is the difference from calm and collected to bat crap crazy Mama that can’t find anything. (Ask me how I know.) Pickle is in desperate need of jeans and socks. (He keeps getting so tall his jeans look like he’s waiting for a flood, and the boy can’t keep socks clean to save his life.) I made a point to write down his clothes size, too, so I won’t have to wonder and guess once I’m in the store.
*Now that we’ve shopped the house, figured out what clothes to get, and made a list of any other back to school essentials, now it’s time to go out and buy what you still need. And you won’t have to wonder, “Don’t we already have that? I swear we have some of those at home.” Or, “What size shoe are you again? Are you sure?”
I’m not a fan of running around looking for school supplies, wrestling other moms in the aisles for the last wide ruled yellow folder, or hauling my kidlets to 4 different stores just to be told, “Nope, we’re all out.” So do yourself a favor: take the extra 15 minutes or so that is needed to collect your list from home before you go out. You’ll save time, energy, cash, and a bit of sanity in the process.
And, just because this 90210 fan thinks it’s awesome, check out my new favorite back to school commercials, staring my boyfriend Brandon Walsh Jason Priestly. 
Happy Shopping!
And here’s to three more really great memory-making weeks with our sweet kids!!
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I LOVE these tips. I am totally taking all your advice. Thanks for sharing. I pinned this because it’s such great advice. xoxo
I don’t even want to think about going back to school yet! (I usually end up waiting right before school starts to look for the supplies that invariably are always out of stock.). Great suggestions, Beth! (And I love those 90210 commercials–so funny!)
I’m so glad you did a post on this. I usually print out the school supply list, take it to the store, and buy everything on the list because I don’t remember what items my daughter still has. We have been re-organizing her room this week, and I was so amazed at the sheer volume of art and school supplies she has. After I read this post, I checked her cache against the school supply list I saw that I will only have to buy a few things. Yay!! Thanks for saving me a ton of $$!