I have a confession to make. I love office supplies. I love school supplies. I may or may not admit out loud that I love looking through supply books, catalogs, and magazines. There is just something about them.
As soon as August got here, I started seeing people shopping for school supplies, and I wondered if Claire would be included in that game. Then, I started reading about people trying to find simple items that were out-of-stock, and I thought, “How hard can it be to find such a simple item?”
We finally got the information from Claire’s Preschool a couple weeks ago (yes, just a couple weeks before her class was to start!), and there was a school supply list!
I’ve been waiting for this day.
The instructions said we could bring the items to the Open House that was to be held in less than a week, or we had the entire month of September to get the items to the school.
Now, part of me questioned why we have to bring a whole bunch of supplies for Claire. I mean, we’re paying for her to go to this school. Shouldn’t some of that be in the budget? But, I digress…budgets are what they are, and it wasn’t that big of deal.
Plus, I get a chance to shop for supplies. 
Originally, I was going to bring Claire with me to do the shopping, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it could turn into another circle of Dante’s Inferno. She wasn’t going to be able to keep the items on the list or in the cart. All of these items go into the Community School Supply Closet for the rooms. Gone are the days when you can pick out your own Trapper-Keeper and Unicorn Folders. (What? Those things totally rock.)
So, I decided to go by myself, which was a treat in and of itself. I chose to go on a day when Daddy and Claire were going to be playing while I went to an appointment. Alone in Target AND I get to shop for office supplies? Pinch me. I must be dreaming.
Sadly, it turned into a nightmare.
It started out innocently enough. Glue sticks… Check. One box of 8 Classic Color Crayola Washable Markers… Check. One package of napkins… Check.
One small bottle of Elmer’s Glue…
What do you mean, you’re out of Elmer’s Glue?! Who runs out of Elmer’s Glue? Even the “store brand” was gone.
There wasn’t any back in the Back-To-School Free-for-all Zone.
So, I went all the way to the other end of the store, and there wasn’t any in the Office Section either.
So, I found a red-shirted khaki-panted person. They checking their little handheld devices. There were none.
While I had that person’s attention, I asked about the paper cups. No, not any kind of paper cups. They had to be at least 90-count 5oz. paper cups.
Not a single one of those in the entire store.
Sweet. I was running out of time. What was supposed to have taken 15 minutes was bordering on 45, and this was getting to be ridiculous, even for someone who totally digs shopping for office supplies.
I called it a day, with those two items still unchecked. Do you know how painful it is to leave items unchecked?
I wanted this done! I wanted to turn all of this in at the Open House and not worry about it! This was supposed to be easy!
That weekend, with Claire in tow, because I had no other choice, we went to four different stores. We finally found the glue at a grocery store (obviously, why not?), but even the grocery stores in our area were out of the 90-count 5oz. paper cups.
Who knew this would be what finally put me over the edge?
When I was checking in yet another Target store (they were completely sold out), they got an alert saying that the original store I’d been to finally got a shipment in. We went up there that day and purchased an elusive box.
Success!
My Insane Scavenger Hunt for School Supplies was over!
Oh wait…not quite. Next item on the list to find? My sanity.
sent to your Email
