The store displays were picked over by the time Mary Lucca went school supply shopping for the first time. It was nearly impossible to find the brand of crayons called for on the list and pre-sharpened pencils were sold out. That left Lucca using a hand sharpener at home before tedium drove her to finish the job at her office in the days before her oldest started kindergarten.
“If you are a working mom, you want to make sure you have pre-sharpened pencils,” says Lucca.
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And certain supplies can prove surprisingly elusive, even for those who start early.
“It was impossible to find a white eraser so I was literally networking with other moms,” she says, describing an experience she had last year when searching for second grade supplies.
This year, the back-to-school veteran will be sending three kids to Point Elementary School in Mehlville, so she started the process before the last school year even ended. Lucca, who works full time as a dietician, collected her two oldest kids’ unused supplies in a central location and checked off what she already had once this year’s lists became available. Young kids often don’t mind reusing paint shirts, pencil boxes and backpacks from one year to the next. And school supply lists call for extra notebooks, glue and crayons her frugal young ones rarely use.
“He just made do with what he had at school, so he probably only used one box of crayons,” she said of her oldest.
Lucca, who will have a child in third grade, first grade, and in kindergarten this school year, adds household staples such as paper towels, facial tissue and cleaning wipes to crates set aside for each child’s supplies.
“We buy everything in bulk,” says Lucca, who is almost set for the upcoming year. “So I will have all my school supply shopping done before I leave for vacation. For me it saves stress.”
Lucca’s husband even shops online for clothes and shoes during end-of-season sales. Indeed, this year’s school shoes were purchased in June and are just waiting to be paired with fresh first-day-of school ensembles. She realizes her kids will want to choose more of their own clothes and supplies soon, but is taking advantage of the time she can shop for them while it lasts.
“Whenever anything goes on sale, we buy it and set it aside,” she says. “When we see that stuff, we just buy it bigger.”
But even with all the pre-planning, she and her husband will be taking a trip to a discount store to pick up items they don’t already own. According to a survey published by the National Retail Federation, families are projected to spend $24.9 billion on electronics, apparel and other school needs for K-12 students this back-to-school shopping season.
“We took two different carts because there’s so much stuff it gets confusing,” she says.
Maybe this year, they’ll have to use three.
Charlene Oldham is a freelance writer and teacher. She lives in Crestwood.
