By Lauren Kovacs

I have a love-hate relationship with back to school. Personally, I hate school supply shopping. I direct from my wheelchair, but I still hate it. It is frustrating and energy sucking.

The high schoolers are fairly easy now. They know what they want and some teachers do have their students get particular things. Mostly, it is hands off; however, I still have one that needs a list. He is also on a year round schedule.

Orchestrating the school supply trips can be no fun, when you have two different school schedules. I take my youngest and his extensive supply list to the store before noon-time to get his supply list done. Avoiding the scary folk and my tired time is a must. Planning is key for back to school. Most MSers know planing anything is key. I also reward myself with a chocolate bar upon checkout.

I used to conduct three boys in school supply shopping. They learned earl-on to be smart shoppers. I kind of turned it into a lesson on prices, math, and quality. I was going to be exhausted regardless so, why not use it to teach. Plus, a chocolate reward at the end awaited me.

I think getting help from your kids is good. Many layers to the supply trip. I tuned the school supply trip, that I hated, into a less hateful adventure. When two boys went to high school, the school supply hunt turned into a small battle and not a war.

I find conducting my kids to hunt for their own stuff for school serves more than one purpose. They learn to shop smart, real-life math, helping someone else, learn to contribute and so on. I still hate supply shopping, but some of the pressure is divided, if I employ the help of those who will benefit. Plus, chocolate is a great excuse.