Back to School, Back to School...to Prove to Dad...

Did anyone else love Billy Madison?

It is almost time for school to start here in the world of Three Mommas. Our children begin school next week, and I CANNOT believe it. My oldest will be in K-5, and my youngest will be starting his 2-year-old class at his preschool.

When I was growing up, this time of year was, next to Christmas, my very favorite time. All of the excitement and anticipation of the first day of school - who would come back to my class, what the new students would be like, how I would like my teacher. My mother always took us shopping for our back-to-school clothes, supplies, backpacks, etc. We would spend hours at the mall (about an hour away from our house), cramming into dressing room after dressing room after dressing room, trying on jeans, sweaters, cute tops, and everything else.

This was one of the things I was truly looking forward to when my son started K-4 last year. Of course, the school he attends (which happens to be my alma mater) allows only uniforms to be worn, so most of the clothes shopping was strictly online. We did go purchase a few supplies and some new shoes and it was fun. However, I recently found out that this year, we will just be purchasing supplies directly from the school, and they will be placed in his desk on the first day.

I am so bummed!

I feel like the back-to-school shopping was such a rite of passage for me, and now I am missing out on doing this with my son. We did go pick out a new lunchbox (he has one that looks brand new, but I wanted to go purchase SOMETHING to celebrate his new school year). I know that he is thrilled about school and has no idea that this isn't the way back-to-school is for everyone, but I am a little disappointed. Oh well - Mom will have to get over it, huh?

Any ideas for a "tradition" to replace conventional back-to-school shopping? Do any of you run into the same problems? I am kind of struggling with this, and will take all of the advice I can get!