That age-old Ritual: Back To School Clothes Shopping
August 5, 2010
Take a walk with me down memory lane….
Way back when, my mom would pick, what seemed like at the time, the hottest afternoon in August. I can remember the sunlight bouncing around the yellow walls of my room as we pulled every item out of closets and drawers, and I tried it all on (tights, turtlenecks and sweaters, even) to figure out what I needed from the Back-To-School sales. Did I mention we did not have air conditioning? Anyway, my mother is a saint, and I realize that now, because….
It is that time to do the same with our kids! The tax-free shopping days are August 6-15th in Illinois, which means we are heading to the stores next week. Lord, please give me patience. Seriously.
This Ritual process has 4 parts – Quantity and Type, Inventory, Shopping and Prep.
1. Quantity and Type:
First things first, decide on how many of each item you need. I have boys, and they are not too picky, but I am. Girls or teenage boys may require more options.
Also, determine size needed – I know all my kids have sprouted since the end of the school year!
2. Inventory:
Starting with the oldest or largest child, try on everything, regardless of what size in on the tag (manufacturers vary widely on actual sizes).
Check items for stains, holes or needed repairs. Purge the stained and old, fix the broken and pass down (if you can) items to younger, smaller siblings.
Then, factoring in the pass-downs, complete the same process for each of the younger children, in decreasing order of age / size.
By the time I got through the big kid stuff, and delved into our pass downs in storage, my youngest really needs nothing new. He’ll get a couple of new snazzy things for first days and picture days, but everything else is new to him!
3. Shopping:
I do the “all-kids-at-once” shopping trip, mainly because I don’t have a choice.
You can try the “one-child-at-a-time” trip if you would like, which prolongs the process but may be saner.
We head to the stores with our lists, our myriad of coupons, our sale fliers and our clean white socks for trying on shoes, of course.
Thankfully, we don’t have to buy pants and long sleeve shirts yet. That can be put off until September or October, to spread out the impact of costs.
4. Prep:
After bringing home your spoils of war from the mall (well, Kohl’s, in our case), now you have to de-tag and wash it all, get it all hung up or in the drawers, and ready for that first day of school.
The rest of “Prep” can be a weekly affair, of putting together outfits for the week, or hanging tops and bottoms together, to help your young ones get ready in the morning with a minimum of fuss.
Hope these ideas help! See you at the Mall!
Our list looks like this: Child’s Name:
Shirts – Short Sleeve Size: Needs: 13 Has: To Buy:
Shirts – Long Sleeve Size: Needs: 13 Has: To Buy:
Shirts – Hoodies Size: Needs: 3 Has: To Buy:
Pants – Shorts Size: Needs: 7 Has: To Buy:
Pants – Long Size: Needs: 7 Has: To Buy:
Pants – Dressy Size: Needs: 1 Has: To Buy:
Pants – Athletic Size: Needs: 3 Has: To Buy:
Shoes – Sneakers Size: Needs: 1 Has: To Buy:
Shoes – Dressy Size: Needs: 1 Has: To Buy:
Shoes – Boots Size: Needs: 1 Has: To Buy:
Other – Summer PJs Size: Needs: 4 Has: To Buy:
Other – Winter PJs Size: Needs: 4 Has: To Buy:
Other – Underwear Size: Needs: 10 Has: To Buy:
Other – Socks Size: Needs: 10 Has: To Buy:
Other – T-Shirts Size: Needs: 10 Has: To Buy:
Other – Belts Size: Needs: 2 Has: To Buy:
Other – Jacket Size: Needs: 1 Has: To Buy:
