School Shopping

Well, I tried to come up with a really creative title for this post and their just isn't any creative way to describe our evening out with all seven kids for school supply shopping. I know I probably sound like a broken record when I say we are like our own walking circus, but we really are! It is crazy how many people stare at us and comment loud enough for us to hear. ( I do not want to be bitter about it, but seriously people c'mon shut your traps until you are in the privacy of your own ignorant worlds! Oh, and by the way Asian children are not the only children who get adopted!) Being that it is just a week before the kids will be going back to school, we decided to get organized and shop for the kids supplies. What you have to understand, is that being a mom of seven would NOT work for me if I was not totally anal. No, I have most everything planned out. As a matter of fact Josh teases me about vacationing by telling people I know what he will be ordering for dinner at each meal and who our waiter/waitress needs to be. It's not really that bad, but it is pretty close! Anyway, I had each child grab a shopping basket and go at it. I read off the lists according to their grade level, had them show me the item so I could cross it off their designated list, and in just 2 short chaotic hours (that felt like an eternity) we had school supplies.

It is hysterical how the different personalities shop for supplies. Clearly, our kids have so many different personalities and it just shines through in our daily life. Yep, here's how it went with each of them:

EmmaLeigh: Although she looks just like me, she is her daddy to the very core. She was pretty much only concerned with a backpack that would be able to hold her iPhone! I don't even know if she knows that school is for learning, not socializing.

Kaidon: This is MY boy! He is very meticulous about what he will be choosing for his year of academics. He over analyzes each item and wants to see the list himself (just in case me, his incompetent mother, may have misread the information). Then he needs to know "why" the particular item is needed so that he can best make the selection.

Mihya: She is all about feelings! She wants to be sure she isn't leaving out the paper folders when choosing to go plastic. If she needs spiral notebooks, she is worried that the composition notebooks will still be on the shelf long after the school supply shoppers have left the building. If she chooses a folder with a dog on it, she wants everyone to know it is not because she doesn't like cats, no, it is because she just likes dogs better. Not better in a bad way, just better, or maybe she should get the cat ones since she has a dog......and on and on and on!

Graysie:This girl is all about the style! She choose every folder around the outfits that she has at home in her closet! She needs to "look" the part. She doesn't care if the list says only crayola markers, if Roseart has a better color in the box she will deal with the repercussions of a disappointed teacher later!

Mikael: Oh, Mikael! He is going to be an engineer! Enough said? Everything had to coordinate and fit perfectly together in a methodical way. If something was off then he was starting over from the top! No blue notebooks? Then all the items in his basket needed to be switched out for red!

Kayela:This trip was not even about school supplies to her! Nope, it was all about approval. If someone said her choice was strange then she was trading out for something they approved of. She is a pleaser through and through. Don't like the folder I chose? Should get the other one?....OK! This girl played out how her friends (that she has yet to meet mind you) will respond when they see each item she has chosen.

It's really entertaining living with so many different personalities.