Retail giants out to punish parents?
Posted
August 14, 2008 at
8:42 pm by
Allison J
It’s almost time to go back to school! Very excited. New faces, new challenges. However, is it really necessary to bring out back to school ads, supplies, backpacks, etcetera by July 4th? As a teacher it evokes panic. For children it’s like some insane cosmic joke. For parents, possibly a comfort to know that September will be here before you know it. It’s mid-August and if you haven’t stocked up on crayons, notebooks and lunch boxes you’re out of luck. It’s like trying to buy a bathing suit in July. What? You didn’t purchase your suit in March? No pool for you this summer sucker!
Then yesterday I made a trip to my local super market. The school supplies are gone. There are a few dishevelled backpacks strewn about the floor and couple boxes of broken crayons. There is, however, an abundance of Halloween candy, costumes, and decor. It is August 14. Who has time to think of Halloween? Who is buying Halloween candy (which I assume will be less than fresh by October 31)? Who I am kidding — Halloween candy bought today would last until about 11pm in my house. Who has cash for a costume after spending a mini fortune on back-to-school clothes?
I can’t even get into the Halloween spirit until the middle of October. I need crisp fall weather. Red and orange leaves crunching beneath my brown leather boots. The smell of wood-burning stoves and apple cider. I know it’s only a few weeks before those inflatable snowmen appear on store shelves.
I have an aunt who is done Christmas shopping in July because she despises holiday shopping crowds. I get the whole “get it done now” mantra, but aren’t retailers and manufactures going to the extremes? They’re taking the fun out of holidays and the change of season — and, at least for me, causing major consumer stress.
Tags: back-to-school, Halloween, retailer scheduling, shopping for the holidays |
10 Responses to “Retail giants out to punish parents?”
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1. jamie said:
August 14, 2008 @ 11:18 pm
You know what else I hate?
People who say, “I can’t believe that summer is almost over!” in front of my angsty kids.
Shut the hell up people.
2. Rita said:
August 15, 2008 @ 5:43 pm
Yeah, school starts in like two weeks and I have not bought ANYTHING. Oh, I did buy a trumpet, lol, and I did buy luchboxes and waterbottles (because they needed those things for camp), but well, if everything else is gone, then it’s gone. I hope it’s not, because that would suck for my kids. But, I can’t get into school supply shopping a friggin’ month beforehand. I just can’t.
3. Diane said:
August 16, 2008 @ 8:20 am
I’m Allison’s Aunt that used to get her Christmas shopping done in the summer — but not anymore. I absolutely hate shopping and have started purchasing gifts on the web and through catalogs. I don’t have to lose my holiday cheer by being abused by the crowds in the stores and I no longer have to store the gifts in my home for months on end. YAY!
But getting back to Allison’s point, I couldn’t agree more with her. I actually went to the dollar store yesterday to buy a helium balloons for my grandson’s birthday today and found Halloween items next to the flip flops and bathing suits! A few steps more and — you guessed it — they were displaying Christmas items for sale!!! And believe it or not — people were buying the Christmas stuff. Talk about beating the holiday rush, WOW!
My daughters are grown and I no longer have to purchase the items on the never ending list of school supplies that are now required. In all honesty, it became a major pain and a HUGE expense. When I was a kid, our school shopping consisted of a new pair of “school” shoes, a new pair of “gym” sneakers, a few outfits (mix & match), the obligatory new under pants and under shirts, a few pairs of socks, a few pens, a couple of pencils, a small box of Crayola crayons and one tablet of lined paper. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the standard purse pack of Kleenex, LOL! We accepted whatever we were given and truly appreciated it. We didn’t get everything new. Before we went official school shopping trip to the store — we all had to go through our dressers to find what fit and what was suitable for school. If our clothes from last year were in good shape and still fit, we wore them to school. If they didn’t fit we passed them along and the recipent wore the hand-me-downs. Being the youngest of three girls at the time, I gladly accepted my sister’s hand-me-downs. After all, I was wearing big kid clothes! We didn’t care, after all they were “new” to us. Who knew back in the 50’s and 60’s that we were a “green” family by re-cycling, re-using, and re-purposing?
4. GrandmafrmKs. said:
August 16, 2008 @ 2:39 pm
Diane, Allisons aunt, I love ya already, Sounds like you went to school the same way I did, appreciative of what ever you had, new or used,
I am grandma to 14, and you would think my kids were raised by the Rockefellers, I can’t fathom how much money they spend on clothes, only for me to have it in the next yard sale, The excuse is “It’s to small” bull hockey.
Also I always start Christmas shopping early, with 14 , I have to, but it is easier for the teens, all they want are gift cards, great for me, b/c I am no shopper, my girls laugh at me b/c I hate shopping, They think staying home more than one day is boring, well not to me, I love being at home, and I can find some thing to do any time.
I just think kids are way to spoiled and have no idea what money is, I do have a couple of grand daughters who are 16- 18 that have worked and bought their own cars and pay their own school fees, but most of the grand kids don’t have a clue. I was with one of my girls buying school supplies, 5 or 6 boxes of crayons, why? 3-4 packs of sharpies, why? Tons of paper, Lord save some for some one else.
As for hand me downs, as a kid I loved them and they served the same purpose, I will guarantee that you and I probably took a whole lot better care of used than these kids do with new, Mom always said “if you don’t take care of the used or old stuff, you’ll never take care of the new,” So true, Enjoy the Holiday season, it’s close, just not as close as the stores want us to think it is.
5. Rita said:
August 16, 2008 @ 8:07 pm
We still do that in my house. I just don’t buy all new outfits for the start of the school year. I buy clothing throughout the year as it’s needed (when things don’t fit anymore).
I also reuse school supplies from the previous year. We don’t toss things into the trash at the end of the year, we toss them into a box to see what can be salvaged for next year. Markers, colored pencils, book covers, erasers, pencils (regular and mechanical) and pens are big things that we use again the following year. When they run dry, then we buy new ones mid-year if necessary. Also, all those notebooks that are labeled and half written in? I tear out the used pages and use the blank ones for my shopping lists. I know, we’re rebels, lol, but it’s not just saving money, it’s saving resources which is a whole lesson in itself.
6. Kymberly said:
August 16, 2008 @ 9:34 pm
I am so over the “you must buy an entirely new wardrobe for September 1st” angst.
My son (11) has perfectly nice, clean sneakers from last spring that still fit. Someone call the fashion police because he’s going to start school in them.
As for hand-me-downs - bring ‘em on! My DD’s entire wardrobe is a closet stuffed FULL of gorgeous name-brand hand-me-downs. We, in turn, hand-down, and so on.
I love the idea that I’m being “green” - rather than just “cheap.”
7. Diane said:
August 17, 2008 @ 12:12 am
I’m aware that we try to give our children more than what we had — but it can sometimes backfire on us.
My husband and I have the ability to be a bit of a financial “safety net” for our daughters when need be. We never allowed our girls to demand designer clothes or anything that we felt were luxury items. Now that they are Mothers, they have the same mind set that we did. As adults, I believe they appreciate the fact that we said “no” to them many times. I’m aware that things are a lot more expensive than they were when we were growing up, but giving your child everything they want will only turn them into unfulfilled adults. So, we’re not allowing our daughters or grandsons to feel “entitled” to everything they wish for.
We’re not cheap, we’re just saving the environment!
8. Rita said:
August 17, 2008 @ 10:14 am
Absolutely. I mean, all the McMansion owners have traded in their Hummers for Priuses and have the super-nice recycling bins for sorting (even though our town lets you throw everything into one big bin unsorted) and are just doing the whole green thing the most expensive way possible. It’s so nice to kind of spit in their eyes with the whole “recycled” clothing and school supplies, because it’s the opposite of showy, but there’s nothing they can do about it.
9. Kymberly said:
August 17, 2008 @ 10:54 am
This is the first year I jumped off the “every school supply must be mint-in-box condition” bandwagon too!
I “shopped” here at home first and found boxes of colored pencils, gently used but every color still in the box, folders from last year that are still perfectly good, erasers, etc.
Sure I had to buy some new glue and new crayons are, to me, a rite of passage (who doesn’t love to sniff the box? C’mon you know you do!)
Last year’s bookbags and lunchboxes are perfectly useable too.
10. Kelly_Belle said:
August 17, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
Ha ha ha…we could be best friends with that statement!
I am raising my daughter by myself (ex-hubby out of picture) and sometimes I recycle my daughters clothes and I love it! I keep her clothes and shoes very clean and I see nothing wrong with passing them on to other families who need them and as much as I am a “name brand” girl, I always except hand me downs from girlfriends whose daughters have out grown their clothing.
As much as I was given growing up…I’ll admit that I was one of the spoiled kids we all don’t like…I am raising my child a little differently. She does wear mostly GAP and Ralph Lauren…but…it’s because it comes from the outlet mall! Otherwise I would never ever be able to afford it. Until I had my daughter I never knew the struggle parents went through just with clothing costs (including shoes) alone.
But…I will tell you one thing I have learned that I never thought would be true…Wal-Mart’s baby and kids clothing and linens are amazing! They wash well, they are hard to stain, very affordable, cute as anything too! Hopefully my daughter will think that way too.