SCHOOL

School starts in less than a week. So last weekend we went school shopping. I LOVE school shopping.

Growing up, each of my siblings and myself (there are 6 of us, and I'm the 5th) were given a day, all to ourselves, where we would go get school supplies and new clothes. It was the only time of the year that we were allowed to get new clothes (besides for Christmas or birthdays). So naturally, it was highly anticipated.

One year, when I was about 10, my day came and my mom and I drove to Fred Meyer (the only one-stop shopping at the time). Keep in mind that Juneau, at the time, had pretty much 3 clothing stores: J.C. Penney, Lamonts, and Fred Meyer. The first two were slightly more expensive in general, so Fred Meyer was where it was AT. So we park the car, I get out in a hurry, and slam the door shut... ON MY THUMB! I screamed, then quickly opened the door. I cried as I inspected the damage: a thumbnail that was already purple and throbbing. I knew what it needed... a small hole drilled into the nail!

You probably think I was crying because of the pain. Not entirely so. I was mostly crying because I knew that this meant I would have to go home. However, I quickly decided I would tough it out and make it look like less of a big deal, so my mom wouldn't cancel my day of shopping. I wiped my tears and told my mom that it wasn't that bad and I'd just go run it under cold water to make it feel better. It took some more convincing but finally she gave in and we were on our way to buying bliss! 

You'd think that shopping all day with a throbbing thumb and many trips to the bathroom to run it under cool water would dampen my excitement towards shopping. Not so. Still.love.it.

However, I now see my mom's wisdom in school shopping one-on-one with your child. Besides giving them individual attention, IT KEEPS YOU SANE! I DO NOT recommend shopping with the whole fam dam. 

This is our last full week of Owen home all day with us (besides the summer vacations). I felt kinda sad when I was talking about it with Bruno last night. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally excited he'll get to go do something for a few hours every day (and learn a bit too)... I just have been feeling a tad sentimental lately, thinking about how fast my babies are growing. I really don't want to miss out on anything. They change so quickly!