School Supplies

Given the current state of our overfilled house and our quest to downsize, we've been getting rid of a lot of stuff. Like, 2-3 trips to Goodwill per week. And we're very focussed on not buying anything that doesn't have an immediate purpose to make our lives simpler and/or more organized.

Shopping for school supplies was something of a respite from this self-imposed clutter diet. Neither of the boys got much in the way of supply lists from the school which is great. I guess private schools don't need parents to replenish their stock of paper towels and hand sanitizer. A few binders, dividers, some paper, and new pencil cases pretty much covered it. Hard-assed mom (me) said "no" to new pencils or pens as we have them by the handful. They each got a new white plastic eraser because, well, white plastic erasers are a joy and they didn't have them back-in-the-day (except in Grade 11 when I took drafting and I had to go to an art store to get 'em.)

We made it out of Staples for under $100 for the two of them. And let me just say for the record that I **miss** my local Office Max in the ATL. (Alex accuses me of dissing our time in the US too much, so there!) Office supply stores were all over the place in our Atlanta suburb. Sort of like nail salons. They were big, beautiful, and had cool stuff. Plus an awesome rebate program that kept me supplied in gift cards for more great swag. That could explain the handfuls of pens and pencils....