School Shopping

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My daughter is starting PreK in a month.

I have never been so stressed in my life.

And its not because of the potty training issue (she's not), or the cost (we're praying for a money tree), or the timing (only two days a week).

It's because of the 2010-2011 Preschool Supply List.

Here it part of the list:

Please bring all items in a large bag with your child's name clearly written on the outside of the bag to the parent meeting.

*2 rolls of paper towels
*1 box of Kleenex tissue (any brand)
*3 boxes of baby wipes
*1 box gallon size ziploc bags
*1 large tub of Lysol or Clorox disinfecting wipes
*1 box markers (8 count or larger)
*4 glue sticks
*2 fine point Sharpie permanent markers (black or color)
*3 packages Party favors (each pkg. should contain 8 or more)

This is my first school supply list -- well, the first one that I have had to do the shopping for. And I am agonizing over it.

I took the kids to the 99 Cent Store to knock off most of the items on the list. But once we were there, I started to worry. After all, the 99 Cent Store does not always have name brands. Will my daughter's teachers think I'm cheap for shopping there? Is it okay to not have name brands? How large is large when it asks for disinfecting wipes? Is a roll of 20 okay or should I go to Costco and get a roll of 25,000? Same issue with the boxes of baby wipes - how many wipes should come in a box? And, lets face it, the cheaper brand of wipes are kinda crappy. Is that okay? How many bags do they want in the box of Ziploc bags? Because the 99 Cent Store carried two brands - one with a box of 10 and another with a box of 11. Is that enough, or should I get two boxes? If I get two boxes will her teachers think I'm kissing up? Or should I get 3 boxes??

And then I got to the party favor aisle. I seriously spent about half an hour there, fretting over the party favors. They had to be just right - I didn't want my daughter to get labeled uncool in PreK. Those kind of labels can stick with you your entire life, right? But I could only find 1 package of party favors that had 8 or more. So I bought 4 packages of 4. And then I had to agonize over the characters. Princesses or Mickey Mouse? Cars or Winnie the Pooh? Or should I go with generic so her teachers don't have to deal with kids fighting over characters? Will the teachers hate my daughter if I mess up this list? Or, even worse, will they kick her out of the class?!?!?!?

At this rate, I'm not going to be able to handle Kindergarten.