Shopping for School Supplies

When you were a kid, didn't just love shopping for school supplies? I know I did. I guess it was just fun to get new things. I loved picking out pens, paper and crayons. I think my favorite items were really cool notebook organizers. One year I had a really cool Charlie's Angels lunchbox.

This year the tradition continues. It's now time to buy school supplies for Chloe and Jillian. So this morning I'm off to Auchan at La Défense. The kids are still on vacation. I would love to have them join me for this rite of passage, but if I were to wait until they return at the end of the summer, there would be people everywhere. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, sometimes the French just take all the joy out of shopping.

This year is a real milestone because it's the first year that I will be doing the shopping alone. The first year we arrived, the school year had already begun so we found what we could for Chloe, and everything turned out okay. Last year, Philippe did the shopping, but I never like what he picks out because he can be so cheap. One day last week he wanted to go shopping with me. I was in the school supplies section picking out crayons for Jillian when I heard him say. "Fify cents for 10 Bic pens? Heck, I can just get Chloe some pens from work!" I turned around and looked at him and said, "My God man, you are really C-H-E-A-P thrifty!" So when Philippe offered to go shopping with me this morning, his day off, I told him no way! When asked how I would decipher the 40-odd items on the list, I told him I'd manage.

So I was off. It was helpful having the list. Chloe's switching to a new school this year, thankfully, and at last, administrators behave in ways in which I'm accustomed. They actually know what it means to give parents a list of supplies BEFORE school starts. However, I must admit, I've never seen so much stuff in my life. The specificity is unnerving. When I was a kid, it was simply buy pencils, notebook paper, pens (preferably black or blue) and a backpack. Here, they tell you the size of the notebooks, how many pages it should have and what color.

I found all of the items - except for the blotting paper for the fountain pen. Honestly, how many eight-year-olds have you seen writing with fountain pens? Not that many I suspect. I'll take that back. When I was 11, I had a nun who had a particular fondness for the writing instruments. Maybe they share the same thinking, that fountain pens force you to improve your penmanship. If that's the case, I guess I'm for it because I used to have beaufitul handwriting. Now, I type everything because my handwriting looks like a doctor's prescription.

Ninety minutes later I'm on my way home out of the store with four really large Auchan bags. Next stop is H&M Kids. There I picked up some really cute cargo pants, jeans and tops for both girls. One last stop to Orchestra for skirts. You see, neither of my girls likes wearing dresses or skirts but I buy them any way. Eight bags later and some really empty pockets, I'm walking home. I'm kinda despressed too because for the amount of money I spent, I could have made a killing at Target!

Philippe couldn't believe how much shopping I did in record time. The secret of course is going very early in the morning before the shoppers start arriving. No word yet on what Jillian really needs for preschool. No surprise there. So I just guessed based on the things purchased for Chloe at that age. I guess I'll find out in the next couple of weeks. Something tells me that this is going to be a very interesting year!