School Supply Shopping

Since Sophia started at a new school this year I wasn't in the loop on how the school supply list worked. I knew there was a prepackaged box of school supplies that I thought I'd purchased as part of the fees I paid for registration. I learned during the orientation on the day before school that the ordering was separate and had occurred in the Spring. I asked her teacher what was necessary for her to have the next day because I was certain that it was going to be challenging dragging all four exhausted girls to Office Depot that afternoon when we'd traveled home from California the night before.

I have romantic memories of school supply shopping with my mom at the local store picking out just the right Trapper Keepers. This experience was pretty much the exact opposite.

Three out of four girls were sound asleep in their car seats during the 5 min drive to Office Depot. Two year olds don't wake up cheery when they've fallen asleep in their seats. Actually, my girls wake up pretty hard. I thought about just turning around and going home and shopping that evening alone but that memory of skipping down the aisles deciding between the puppy and the kitten folder cropped into my brain and I said out loud "we're going to do this!". I would not deprive my eldest daughter of this special experience.

Ella sat in the cart and Katie and Ceci held onto the sides while Sophia checked her list for the items. We were a wide load knocking down end caps and displays but I just kept moving. Guess what was the ONE thing they didn't have. C R A Y O N S. I was wishing I hadn't asked and Sophia hadn't heard that the only necessary item to start First Grade was a box of 48 crayons.

Sophia kept begging me to find more employees to ask if maybe somewhere they had a box of 48 crayons. I promised her we'd check somewhere else.

As I was checking out in a full sweat Katie looks up and me and says "I pooped". I looked around as casually as I could to see who heard in this line full of moms and kids. Katie thought I hadn't heard her since I didn't immediately freak out like I do when she poops in her underwear so she yelled "I POOPED!" Then just to make sure the guy back in the toner department knew, Sophia and Ella yelled "MOM....Katie pooped...IN HER UNDERWEAR!" I saw the 18yr old check-out girl swallow. I think she threw up in her mouth a little bit. I asked where the bathrooms were while everyone watched us do the walk of shame to the back of the store. One thing they had in the Office Depot bathroom that I'd never seen before was disposable gloves. I cleaned Katie up and stuffed her underwear into one of those gloves.

Not exactly the school supply shopping trip of my youth but memorable nonetheless.