If you have been back-to-school shopping, impatiently reading and re-reading The List of required and suggested supplies, even just once, you can guess my trick to making it not suck: I went by myself. Some items are just not exciting, and wouldn't have merited much of the kiddo's consideration--I mean, how much variety can there be among different brands of yellow #2 pencils? However, I didn't want the kiddo's "help" in this case, which would have consisted of reminding me that she is expected to bring in two boxes instead of one. (If you remember from my previous post about buying school supplies, I'm not buying or sending in everything at once. Maybe I just don't like being told what to do.)
There is one thing, though, that the kiddo could have deliberated over all day, and that is the 1-subject spiral notebook. I saw cute animals, fairies, Hello Kitty, princesses and My Little Pony in addition to the plain, boring, solid colors. The kiddo loves all of those, and any attempts on my part to hurry up a decision would most certainly have backfired and caused her to analyze and overanalyze her choice even more. Not out of spite, but because she is 6 years old and this could possibly constitute a big decision for her. So, what did I do? I took matters out of her hands. I chose the cute animals--lion cubs--and didn't tell her about the other options. When she saw her notebook, she squealed with delight and thanked me. I even got a hug for my efforts. When she sees all the other notebooks she could have had, sure, she might be upset for a few seconds. But, hey, she has lion cubs, and she can always pick out everything herself next year.
As I'm writing this, I realize that I'm coming across not as a mean mommy, but as an overbearing, control freak mommy. So be it. I'm a mommy who did not have to pop aspirin or guzzle a bottle of wine in order to get school supply shopping done, plus, I have a happy kiddo. I can regroup and change my strategy next year.
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