MiniMe is 5.5years old. She is not crazy aggressive, she doesn’t mistreat her stuff more than an average 5yo would. Somehow though, her backpacks just don’t last. She finished her first year of school this year, and over the course of 9.5 months of education, where she barely uses a backpack but to carry things into and out of a classroom, she has gone through 3 backpacks. We are on her third pack now which is being used for summer camp, where its the same experience of carrying her stuff into the room and then leaving in a corner until lunch time.
How is it that we have purchased 3 back packs, and in 12 months, she is going to have trashed all 3. We just bought a new one in June to last her through the summer and into the next school year, but even at $20, this one doesn’t seem like its going to last until the end of the summer.
I don’t expect the world of these back packs. I mean, the most we are spending is $25 right now. But the fact that they are not lasting more than a few months, has me steaming. I remember wearing the same backpack for 2-3 years at a time. Wht happened to quality backpacks? What happened to affordable backpacks?
Maybe that is the problem in today’s culture. Affordability doesn’t mean quality anymore. I started shopping at higher end department stores at the end of my college days. Not because I was looking for expensive clothes, but because I was looking for quality clothes. I was tired of my jeans wearing out, I was tired of my shirts being faded even when I washed them on cold and hung them to dry. Some of the material of my dresses was thinning after just 2 washes. It was time for some real wardrobe essentials that last. Behold, its been 5 years for some of my wardrobe pieces and they are still holding up well. Thank you department store quality. So with that in mind, I guess it is time to consider spending a little bit of extra money on higher quality products for MiniMe.
Two of her backpacks from this last year are tearing at the seams. Her owl one is ripping in the back, and her Princess one is ripping in the front. After examining, its noticeable that the material is just not thick enough. It’s china cheap, and its crap, and sad to say it, but I guess its what you pay for. So this year we search, for a new backpack, by the end of August. One issue with backpack shopping is that you have to search for something that is both high quality, big enough for her to use on a daily basis, can hold her school papers and possibly a change of clothes, is washable, and pleasing to her style (ie, she actually likes). As adults we find a good quality backpack that will last, but will it make the child happy? That is the biggest problem. So this summer, as part of my search. I will find a backpack is both pleasing to the unicorn, cupcake, glitter rainbow loving girl, and machine washable, durable, and reasonably priced for the adult.
The Jayne Project 