How to do Back to School shopping incorrectly

1 - shop with your kids, ALL of them! 
2 - shop after dinner, when you are tired and less likely to walk away from a transaction gone wrong. 

Here's the scenario:

• You find a wonderful $10 off shoes coupon from Money Saving Mom and envision shoes for $15 each after coupon. 
• Rush to JCP with entire family in tow
• Go through the entire shoe fitting experience complete with two year old insisting she needs new shoes and telling her no, it's only the big kids who get shoes.
• Get them to fall in love with shoes
• Take each oldest to the bathroom, separately, because they couldn't consider going at the same time and we were too daft to ask
• Finally take them all to the register only to find out they don't take Disney brand with the coupon
• Resolutely redirect entire family back to shoe department to find they only stock brands that are not honored by the coupon.  In fairness to JCP, there was one brand available but they were out of stock on our sizes
• Give up, buy shoes

Later in the week, stop buy Target to get their 2nd back up pair and find "Buy one, get 2nd pair half off".  Cry self to sleep because the total price of shoes is $37.50 rather than the $49 spent at JCP.

3 - Torture self further by taking all 3 kids (without husband to act as human shield to their grievances) and shop for the last thing on the list - school shirts for one child.  Go to Bon Ton, find nothing.  Return to Target for 30 excruciating minutes of holding two year old because she wouldn't stop screaming bloody murder from the cart and giving four year old a phone with games to play at full volume while trying to convince picky six year old to just pick 5 shirts that are in her size!!!

Next year, shopping will be done on individual child basis.