One option vs. the other option...

Well, it's that time of year again.  Time to buy school supplies.  And my daughter is going into the first grade, so I was dreading even looking up the supply list to even see what was on it, especially after her list for kindergarten.  Last year, the list was almost 2 pages long and it cost me $100 to get what was needed to start off.  And that didn't include what I spent during the year after notes would get sent home by the teachers asking for this or that.

Sooo....my daughter and I decided this past weekend to try to get the things needed on her list.  I know school is still 2 weeks away, but I refuse to wait till the 'tax free' weekends.  That will be COMPLETE chaos that I want absolutely no part of!

Okay, in the little town I live in, we have a Wal-mart....I mean, doesn't every small town have them?  So, we walk in, grab a basket (gross), I pull out the list and we head in to begin the daunting task of searching for these supplies.  And when I say searching...that is exactly what I mean.  The Wal-mart near me has about 4 small isles in the very front of the store this time of year dedicated specifically to school supplies (they change from season to season).  By the time we got there, the shelves had been so picked over, it was ridiculous.  I can't seem to find half of the stuff on the list which is very frustrating.

The request for the vinyl folders w/ brads and pockets (in blue, yellow, green and purple) says in the quantity column 4 each, but in the description column it says 1 of this color, 1 of that color and so on.  So, I guess that could be taken either way.  I decided to take the 'better safe than sorry' option and go for the 4 of each color.  Well, thus began the steam from my ears.  Not only could I totally NOT find half of the items on the list, I also had to deal with 1,001 people searching for the same things and all of them are on the same isle at the same time.  And not a single one of them wants to move for fear of someone else finding what they are looking for and grabbing it b/c it's the absolute last one on the shelf.

*SIGH*....after about 45 minutes of dealing with this, I lost my patience with it.  I grabbed my child, left my basket where it was and walked out of the store.  I decided that I was going to try Target in hopes that I would have somewhat better luck there.  Now, it's about a 20 minute drive from where I live, but in most cases, so totally worth the drive.

When we pull up to Target, I notice that it seems pretty crowded (by the amount of cars in the parking lot), but I decided to go ahead and try my luck anyways.  We walk in, grab a basket and head towards the back where the school supplies are (I know this b/c I'm a huge fan of Target).  Anyways, we were in and out of there in less than 20 minutes, and get this....we got EVERYTHING on the list!!

Please forgive the poor lighting!!

Yes, you read that correctly!  We got everything on the list and it only took me 20 minutes!  I didn't have to deal with people hogging isles.  I didn't have to deal with the shelves being picked over.  I didn't have to deal with rude people!  Yes, I was a happy camper.  All this for only $47 (that's w/ tax) and we even managed to pick her out a cute lunchbox, too (that's it on top of the Kleenex boxes)!  And the best part, besides the price, was that I didn't leave mad or frustrated.  Nope!!  I left happy!

And what made my day even more was that she got a really cute backpack from the YMCA for FREE (b/c I signed her up for after school care).  So, I didn't have to buy that.  Although, to make it a little different from the couple hundred they gave out, I took it to have her initials monogrammed on it.  It's cute and should last her until at least Christmas (the kids are hard on backpacks).

So, ladies and gentlemen...this is one happy momma!  From now on, for me, it's definitely Target over Wal-mart any day!!

God Bless!!