Back to school with Smiggle

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How do you decide what to buy for children and how much is too much? It’s a difficult balance between always saying no and ending up buying things they don’t need. We’re not a family that always buys a new pencil case and rucksack for the new school year. By the same token, we rarely buy the girls things when we’re on a day out. Recently though, the girls have started to show more of an interest in acquiring things. So, we’ve given them birthday money to spend. They’ve started to have a couple of pounds a week in pocket money too. And anything they want to buy comes out of that.

Buying stationery

When the girls first started to have some pocket money, I was convinced they’d want to spend it on sweets. Instead, their choices have been a pleasant surprise. For both Lia and Libby’s birthdays, we took them shopping with some money to spend instead of having a party. Surprisingly, they both chose to buy clothes and their one indulgence was stationery.

For children, the Smiggle shop is like a treasure trove. Both girls spent hours in there, meticulously deciding how to spend their money. In the end, they both bought a few small things and Libby decided to save up for a pencil case for the new school term. What I love about Smiggle is that it seems to have made stationery fashionable for children. And with stationery comes writing, drawing and creativity.

The girls were beyond delighted to receive a selection of stationery in the post from Smiggle this week. Better still, it included pencil cases for both of them. They both immediately sharpened their pencils and grabbed a notebook to put them to the test. The pencil cases are large, with two decent-sized pockets and a small, envelope style pocket. There’s even a little window for children to write their name and address in. Ideal for children like mine who lose everything at school.

Smiggle pencil cases for school

When their Smiggle goodies arrived, each had their favourite. Thankfully, they didn’t choose the same one. Both have a lovely pencil case, along with matching pencils, ruler, pencil sharpener and rubber. Conveniently, the rubber, pencils and sharpener all fit on the ruler. This means that even without the pencil case, it would be ideal for taking into school.

At the moment, I’m not sure whether Lia will need to take a pencil case to school next year. That didn’t dampen her spirits though, she’s more than happy to enjoy it at home.

Getting ready for back to school

I’ve been a bit half-hearted in my preparation for back to school this year. The girls clearly have enough stationery now. We’ve also bought the basics of their uniform. Dresses, skirts and trousers are sorted. Most of last year’s uniform t-shirts are still fine, as are their PE t-shirts. I only buy jumpers and cardigans second hand because they’re so expensive and they lose them so quickly. I’m leaving shoes until the last minute because they grow so fast, but I need to feel a bit more prepared over the next couple of weeks.

Are you ready to send the children back to school or will you be at the shops for the the last minute rush?

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