Back to School question

[cart-mom]

Where did the summer go? Didn't the kids just leave school???
Here's my question . . . . .

Do you buy your kids new backpacks every year for school or do you make them use the same one if it is still in good condition?

DS is going into 3rd grade and DD is starting Kindergarten and have backpacks that are in good condition so I hate to get rid of them but I'm sure they would probably want to start off the year fresh with a new one. Am I being cheap? Am I over-indulging them if I get new ones?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Thanks.

 

[Karista]

When my kids were all in elementary their backpacks would look pretty tough by the end of the school year and I looked forward to tossing them in the trash on the last day of school. That meant, buying new ones at the beginning of each year. However, since they were so young they wanted the cartoon character ones which weren't all that expensive.

Now, I buy better quality ones, usually Jansport or Lands End, and they seem to last for quite a few years.

Ask them if they want new backpacks. I would buy them if they do, but if not, just let them use the old ones. Even the new ones won't look fresh after a few weeks of being dragged down the sidewalk anyhow.

 

[dizneenut]

Last year all my boys used the same backpacks as the year before, as they were still in good shape. This year, they all got new ones.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

If the backpacks are in good condition, then they will use the same ones.

For example . . .DD will be entering H.S. this year and she will get a new backpack (she wants a messanger bag) I order them from LL Bean.

DD had 1 backpack starting from 3 - 5th grade. When she went to 6th (Middle School) she got a new backpack. And now 9th she'll have her third one.

DS will get his new backpack next year when he goes into 6th. The one he is using now he got in 3rd Grade and it really is in good condition . . .I just throw it in the wash at the end of every year.

 

[browneyes]

I always have to buy my dd 2 backpacks every year because she's so rough on them. Usually one of my ds's zippers stops working on his backpacks, so I always have to buy him a new one every year. I wish I could get by with not having to buy new ones every year. My dd won a backpack at the library this year, but she still had to have another new one to match her best friend's backpack (or something like that).

 

[amid chaos]

We buy land's End or LLbean and they last for years!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by amid chaos
We buy land's End or LLbean and they last for years!

Us too! These are the best backpacks on earth. I'm specifically referring to the LLBean ones. My kids will continue to use them for all of elementary school. I broke down and bought these after buying about 4 cheap backpacks for DD during K and 1st. They just kept getting trashed. It was cheaper in the long run to buy good ones that last.

DS wanted a new one this year because he wanted "a blue one". His old one is green....but it is also in perfect shape. We compromised with a new blue lunchbox (which he really needed anyway) and he's very happy. We bought the "critter trackers" lunch box from LLBean it's blue with a gecko on it and he loves it.

I thought DD would want a new one because she is very fashion concious but she's totally happy with her LLBean backpack for the 3rd year in a row.

 

[wdwnutze]

My dd's like to pick out new backpacks every year. I usually don't spend more than about $15 on each one so I don't mind getting new ones each year. If I had spent a lot(LLBean or Lands End) then I would expect them to get more than 1 year out of them. I take the old ones at the end of the year and drop them off at Goodwill or the 2nd hand store. Someone could use a backpack and might not be able to afford a new one.

 

[Gette88]

I bought DD a new backpack every year. Last year she was in 6th grade (middle school) and I bought her a Jansport figuring she'd get a few years out of it. Well, she wrote all over it with perminate marker. I was fit to be tied. DD writes on everything & it drives me nuts. I told her she's not getting a new one & that she's stuck with the dirty beat up looking one. She's fine with it. I'm not. I'm embarrassed to send her off to school with that ugly gross bag. I don't know what to do. Maybe I'll make her use her allowance to buy a new one.

 

[Marla Hellwig]

DD got a new one for this year - mostly cos last year's didn't make it through the wash

 

[jan/cape]

I buy L.L. Bean backpacks for the girls. As mentioned they are great! My oldest daughter got a new one when she entered highschool because she needed a bigger one. She is now entering her jr. year and the backpack still looks terrific. So, no new backpacks this year.

 

[ListenToCKY]

Summer break is too long, I think. That's probably just because I'm a loser with no life. I would love to have year round schooling. You get like 2 or 3 week breaks every 9 weeks.