Household Updates

No mice in a week.  Victory!!!!  Do I dare put the dishes back? 

On Saturday we braved Target for the first ever Mullins family school shopping extravaganza.  Oh boy.  First of all, I think any family who brings the father with them to do the school shopping should automatically qualify for a 50% discount.  Seriously.  There were like two dads there, and one of them was Greg. 

Silly us, we went to the regular school supplies aisle.  A more experienced mother, who happened to have a daughter named Kyleigh, directed us towards the mondo display of school/college items.  We should have just stayed in the small aisle.  Our Kiley, of course, was super-excited about an even bigger display of puppy and kitten adorned folders, so off we went.  Here is what we purchased:

1 70  page spiral notebook (pink glitter)  Brookneal Elementary needs to know that spiral notebooks come in 70 pages, 90 pages, and 120 pages, but NOT 100 pages as requested on the list

1 pack of glitter pencils (which by the way was over five bucks)

1 pink pencil case (79 cents...appropriate since the pencils will cause us to have to get a loan)

1 (hold your breath) Littlest Pet Shop lunch box.  A part of Leah died when Kiley picked that.

1 two pocket folder with a Dalmatian puppy sporting hair bows

1 two pocket folder with a fluffy kitten in a basket

1 pink striped towel for "rest time" to which Kiley stated, "I'm not taking a nap!"  Yeah, sure you aren't. 

We made it out of Target after only one meltdown.  Kiley has a perfectly good Hello Kitty bookbag, but I stupidly decided to ask her if she was sure she didn't want to get a new one.  She said, "I guess." and then turned to Greg and burst into tears.  What did I do?  What did I say?  Apparently, she really didn't want a new bookbag and was feeling a little pressured to choose a new one.  Ah, girls and their bags.  It can only get worse.  By the way, one of the school lists we saw there had "large bookbag" listed for kindergarten students.  Are they nuts????  What on earth is a kindergartner going to be carrying that he or she needs a large bookbag? 

Bottom line?  School shopping stinks.  You stand there debating whether or not to let your five year old get glitter pencils for $5.00 when the ordinary yellow ones are 59 cents.  All research shows that kids write best when they have cool stuff to write with, yet a part of you is saying, "Oh, can't we get the cheap ones?"  You are also constantly comparing yourself to all the other moms and kids that are shopping at the same time.  What does it say about you that you are looking at the cheap pencil cases?  That you choose the cheap towel over the plush one?  Why is everything such an issue!?  The whole time we were there I was thinking that homeschooling might be a good idea.  At least for kindergarten. 

Anyway, we made it through the weekend in mostly one piece.  Both girls have their first doctor's appointment here tomorrow...should be interesting.  Seems like the closer you are to a city the more forms you have to fill out.  There were five each that I had to do in preparation for tomorrow's appointment.  Who knows what they will give me when I get there.  Maybe Kiley will let me borrow one of her glitter pencils.