SALT LAKE CITY — With the start of a new school year just around the corner, I am finding myself in a mad rush to get my children ready for the big day. There are school supplies to purchase, haircuts to be had, sleep patterns to reset and — most importantly of all — new school clothes to buy. Or so it seems.

The ads dominating television, the internet and newspapers of late make it appear that if you don't have the latest styles, then you might as well not even bother returning to school.

One such JC Penny ad caused a stir and was the subject of a recent ksl.com article.

Related:

Parents furious over J.C. Penney back-to-school ad

A new ad has many parents vowing to steer clear of J.C. Penney for their back-to-school shopping.

I get it. As a teenager growing up in the '90s, things weren't much different. This type of thinking that is fueled by the media and advertisers has been around for as long as I can remember.

As a mother of five school-aged children, budgeting for this proves to be extremely difficult and downright stressful, to say the least. I have found myself pressured by the ads I see. I don't want to be the mom who sends her kids to the first days of school in old clothes.

I remember, a few years back, on my oldest son's first day of school, I had managed to scrounge enough money to buy him a few little outfits to get him through the first few days of school. I recall walking him to school and feeling very good about being able to buy those clothes for him.

As the kids lined up, I found myself among a group of parents who were talking. I expected to hear them talk about the school year starting, the teacher their child had, how their summer went. Guess what they were talking about? Yup … the clothes their kids were wearing.

#poll

One mother drew attention to her son's brand-new shoes — some new type of Sketchers that had been advertised on TV. The other moms started talking about the shoes they got their kids.

Guess who didn't buy her son new shoes? You guessed it: Me. There was a bit of an awkwardness when the conversation got around to me. I fumbled around trying to explain why it was that I didn't buy him a new set of kicks. All I received were a few pity smiles.

The truth was, he didn't need new shoes and we couldn't afford to buy him new shoes. The practical thing to do, I thought, was to wait until he needed them and to not spend the money we didn't have. With the reaction I got from the other parents, however, you'd think I was the worst mother in the world.

That moment, I decided that I wasn't going to take part in this nonsense we call “back-to-school shopping.” I didn't want my kids to think that just because school was starting, they got a whole new wardrobe.

Instead, we buy things when they need them. Throughout the year, we go through the kids' clothes in order to assess what they need. We do this at the beginning of the school year, too.

This year, the boys need socks and shorts and the girls need shoes. That's it. In doing this, the kids are able to go to school in something new but we have not broken the bank to buy unnecessary items. Hopefully, my children have been taught a valuable lesson on needs versus wants that they can carry throughout their lives.

So parents, I plead with you not to be pressured by the ads you see, making you think your kids need the latest and greatest styles in order to go to school. And please, don't pressure each other, either.

Take this time to teach your children to be frugal, and that just because society tells them they need it, it doesn't make it so. Arianne Brown is a graduate from SUU, mother to five young kids, and an avid runner. For more articles by Arianne, go to her blog at timetofititin.com or like her FB page at: https://www.facebook.com/WriterArianneBrown?ref=hl

Related topics