Bad Backpack

My daughters begged us for new backpacks this year. It didn't matter that their old backpacks were in perfectly good condition. It didn't matter that backpacks cost money and we had already spent about $35,081 on school supplies and clothes already. They wanted new backpacks. My youngest daughter received a new backpack for her birthday. She loved it. And my oldest daughter was finally content to use last year's bag. Then a generous neighbor went and ruined it all. She gave my oldest daughter a new backpack. Not just any backpack. A really cool, one-strapped style backpack. The kind I don't approve of, just so you know. Now my youngest daughter was insanely jealous. Nothing was good enough for her. Everyday was a struggle. Every shopping trip was a fight. I finally gave in, like any other terrible mother would, and bought her a new backpack. The one-strap kind.

I found the new bag at Walgreens for $10. I'll be damned if I'm going to spend more than $20 on a backpack that my kids are going to hate the next year. And apparently, you get what you pay for. This particular bag is made by Urban Sport. It was barely big enough to fit her 2" three ring binder. In fact, in the first week of school, she broke one of the zippers off because she was forcing it closed. I gave her a lesson on cramming everything into a tiny space more effectively. It worked. For two more weeks.

Photo of the ill-fated bag I bought my daughter

Last night, she broke the other zipper off. Seriously? I know I only paid $10 for this backpack that my daughter begged me for that I didn't want to buy her in the first place, but to only last for three weeks seems a bit ridiculous to me. Especially considering that the $15 backpacks I bought last year are in great condition and still sitting in their closet. (Those are made by Jansport, by the way.) Lesson learned, I suppose.

The zipper didn't just break, it came off completely. 

My daughter went to school this morning with her birthday bag and the knowledge that mommy is always right. She never needed that one-strapped tiny backpack. And she's perfectly happy using the one she had to begin with. Now she owes me $10.