No new backpack this year. You'd think this small thing wouldn't have caused a big stink.
Other than her name scrawled in pen across the front - the result of boredom one day in after-school care - my daughter's backpack is in reasonably fine shape and can stand another year's abuse. First grade is not particularly challenging in terms of bookload or backpack weight, one would think, so I think we'd be fine for another year with our $5 used kid store find.
But no. When I picked up my daughter for daycare this week, I announced she needed to bring her back home to wash it, so I could see what shape it was in for school.
"But I NEED a new backpack!" she said. "Mine has my name on it! It's a mess!"
We talked about choices - it certainly wasn't mom's writing on the front - and that we didn't need to replace something that wasn't broken. I don't know that she's convinced. But truthfully, the thrill on Aug. 17 will be on seeing friendly faces she's not seen all summer, not whether the Tinkerbell backpack is back for round 2.
4 comments:
I have two girls in middle school. Each one got a new Lands End or LL Bean backpack when she started Kindergarten. Those backpacks are still in use -- one girl is starting 7th grade and the other is going into 6th. I did get them each a new backpack for middle school, but the old ones still go to sleepovers, on trips, and anywhere else the girls need to carry stuff.
My kids don't get new backpacks every year either. They only get a new bag when they need one. (or I find a particularly good one at a thrift shop).
I yielded last year when my daughter was in kindergarten and let her get a "cute" kitty cat backpack from Target. By the end of the year it was full of holes. This year we made a Big Deal out of "this year you're going to get a high quality backpack, and it will last you for years, like your brother who got his new backpack before first grade and now going into third grade it still looks like new."
We'll see. She's hard on her stuff.
Good for you! Both my kids made it through last year with a used backpack that we bought two years ago! My youngest one's fell apart a week before school got out and my oldest one's has holes all over the bottom. I did spring for a new backpack for both of them but bought a high quality one that I'm hoping will last for three or four years minimum. Reviews on the site touted them lasting for all of elementary school. Fingers crossed!
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