Confesssion #3

I think all American women have some sort of shopping addiction. Not necessarily clothes shopping or shoe shopping (which is what most people assume), but some kind of thing that they compulsivley buy no matter what state their finances are in or how it will affect them. My addiction is not clothes or shoes, although I am trying to spend a little bit more money on these items and buy a little more thoughtfully (not just what is on sale or clearance, but something I really like that is somewhat flattering and hides my muffin top) since I have been occasionally watching "What not to Wear" and Project Runway. I have come to realize that my TWO shopping addictions (yes, 2) are:
1. Scrapbooking supplies
2. Classroom items

Let's dive a little deeper into this idea.... shall we? First the scrapbooking supplies. I have one of the largest room in our house almost filled with stuff. I have piles of cardstock (stored vertically, of course), 2 shelves of patterned paper, numerous empty albums awaiting photos, flowers of silk, paper, felt, chipboard, acetate, buttons in several containers, hundreds of yards of ribbon, untold numbers of eyelets, snaps, brads, etc. I have letter stickers, hundreds of old decorative stickers, word stickers, rub ons, tools (label makers, punches, circle cutter, paper cutters (3), exacto knives, cropodile, etc) a container full of old metal embellishments, paints, mica, clay, texture paste, transparencies, lace, fabric, old fibers, boxes and boxes of rubber stamps with the inks and powders to go with them, and an outrageous number of other embellishments I cannot keep track of. I am sure that is not even all of it. But I cannot throw anything away, and every time I go past the scrapping aisle at Target or into Michael's or onto a scrapping website, there I am looking at all the fun and beautiful NEW stuff. If I get a gift certificate, that's what I'll use it for. I love to shop for it. I love to come home and open up my bag and spread everything out and look at it. I love to find places to keep my new supplies. Occasionally I even get inspired to use them!

Now for the classroom stuff. This is a completely different category all together. I do not usually impulse buy these items. When I plan the activities in my classroom, I work really hard to make everything as active and engaging as possible. If I need something to do this I will buy it. I will go to the store at 10 pm. I will put things like moon pies for a space unit or seeds and soil for a plant study or plastic farm animals for a classifying activity on my credit card if there is no money for them in the checking account. I will spend $20 on a timer at the grocery store at 9:30 at night because it makes a ticking sound and we need to play the "hide the timer" game tomorrow to strenghten our listening skills. I have even been known to tell my own two children, "No, you cannot have that _________ (fill in pretty much anything here: money for snacks, package of lead for your mechanical pencils, new tshirt) until payday, while at the same time I have purchased a bag full of items for my classroom. This shopping is NECESSITY for me. I NEED each of these items to make my classroom the best possible learning environment. I want my student to have everything they need to learn.
So, there are my 2 shopping addictions. What are yours?