Thursday Thirteen #17

Thirteen Sucky Things About School Shopping

They’re going back…YAY! It’s a wonderful time of year. The kids are going back to school. It would be perfect if school shopping wasn’t such a nightmare! Here’s a few of the hassels we ran into on our annual back to school shopping trip. 

1. My 12 year old son is now into labels. Last year he could have cared less what brand his clothes were. This year he’s very expensive.

2. Clothes sizes vary way too much from brand to brand, and even within the same brand. This means everything must be tried on and several sizes must be taken into the fitting room, otherwise you are running back and forth for different sizes.

3. I’m not sure what my son does in the dressing room, but it takes him forever. Took him 20 minutes to try on 3 pairs of jeans. Ugh!

4. I am no longer allowed in the boys changing room. Last year I could wait in the dressing room outside whichever cubicle he was in. Now I have to stay far away from the dressing rooms and he may or not come out to model the clothes.

5. We used to be able to get everything in two stores, Old Navy and JC Penny’s. Now we have to run from one store to another to find the specific brands.

6. This is tax-free week for clothes and school supplies in Florida. Everyone is out at the stores and things are a mess. You can’t find anything because the hordes have not put things back where they belong.

7. The mall crawl. My son has discovered that it is cool to stroll slowly, preferably no where near me, and check out the girls.

8. Parking is a mess. We did okay at the first store, but as the day got later the lots filled up, making finding a space very difficult.

9. Carrying all multiple plastic bags is painful. The damn things press into the sensitive skin of your fingers, creating deep red gouges.

10. Different office and mart-type stores have school supplies at varying prices. One store may have the best deal on paper, but another has the good deal on pens. This means either paying more for some things or running from one store to another.

11. The food court is loud, and finding a table is next to impossible.

12. When we were finally ready to leave and the trunk was loaded down with packages, we climbed into the boiling hot (the feels like temp is 105) car and it wouldn’t start. No light, no noise, nothing.

13. The waiting room at Sears had soap operas on the TV, and the magazines were in all in Spanish. This made for a very long 2 hour 45 minute wait while they figured out how to get the wedged in battery out of my car. My Grand Prix has a V8 engine and not much room for anything else. It also took forever to find a new one that would fit into the cramped space.

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