Back-to-School Shopping

It’s that time already.  I know many of you have already sent kids back to school but we don’t go back till after Labor Day, which is fortunate for us since our elementary school still doesn’t have central air conditioning.  I know, can you believe that?  The Southerner in me can’t wrap my mind around it, but them’s the facts.

So!

This morning I took my 6-year-old with me to the mall to do some good old-fashioned back-to-school shopping.  We’ve never made a big deal out of back-to-school shopping; I usually just shop as I am out and about.  But I thought it would be fun to have a girls’ day out with my middle child, so we left the other two home with their daddy and we set off.

When we got to the mall, we made a beeline for Gap Kids, and my daughter instantly honed in on an adorable embroidered jeans skirt and a precious pointelle wrap sweater.  I love that we still have the same taste in clothes; I know that won’t last forever.  Still, I told her that we should check the sale racks first.  So we headed to the back, while she tried to convince me she needed this and this and this.  As it turned out, there wasn’t much on the sale racks, so we went back to the front of the store and selected some pieces to try on.

While we shopped, I discussed making choices.  There was so much that she loved (and I did too) but I decided that it was high time to start teaching her about the value of money while we were shopping.  I explained that we should set a limit and then select our favorite items.  When we got to the limit, we’d have to put the rest back.

Well.  It’s almost cruel to ask that little girl to make a choice.  She belabors every decision like it’s her last.  Poor child, she got her indecisiveness from me, I suppose.  We finally left the Gap with a new fall school dress, a pair of jeans, THE jean skirt, two tank tops, and two sweaters.  And a couple pair of jeans for my son and a fall dress for my younger daughter.  I had a 25% off coupon, what can I say?

For every one thing we bought, there was something we put back, and when we got to the cash register, we had a whole other conversation about being practical and buying things we need, as oppose to things we want (like bracelets and lip gloss and hair bands and…  Moms, you know how it goes.)

I think it was a worthwhile shopping trip — a little mother-daughter time, a little financial education, and an Auntie Anne’s pretzel to seal the deal.  What more can you ask out of a Saturday?

This post is part of the Back-to-School blog tour with Parent Bloggers Network and Capital One.  For more information on talking to kids about money, a national consumer advocacy group, Consumer Action, sponsors the Moneywi$e eLearning tool, which includes a section all about talking to kids about money.  Plus, check out @TeachingMoney on Twitter to get bite-sized family-focused financial tips.