Every frum mother knows the feeling: it’s the first week of August, the camp duffels are still half-unpacked in the hallway, and the school supply lists are already arriving. The notebooks, the shoes that were outgrown in June, the uniforms that shrank in the wash. It all needs to happen, and it all needs to happen soon.
Here’s a thought: instead of fighting the crowds at home, make it a trip. Book a villa in Lakewood for a few days, bring the kids, and turn back-to-school shopping into a late-summer getaway. Lakewood is one of the best-stocked frum shopping towns in the country — uniforms, shoes, supplies, seforim, all of it — and you can knock out the whole list in two or three days while the family gets one last taste of summer.
The uniform run
Uniforms are the anchor of back-to-school shopping, and Lakewood has you covered. The town’s uniform shops are built for exactly this — they know the dress codes of the local schools, they stock the right skirts, blouses, shirts, and pants, and the staff can size your kids in minutes because they do it hundreds of times a week in August.
Before you go:
- Check each school’s dress code. Hem lengths, collar rules, approved colors, whether jumpers are allowed — the rules vary by school, and buying the wrong thing is an expensive mistake. Pull up the school’s handbook or call the office.
- Bring one child per size range. You don’t need to drag all six kids. If two boys wear the same size, send one as the model.
- Buy the growth size, not the perfect fit. August is not the time for tailored. The kids will grow; the hems can be let down. Experienced mothers buy a half-size up on pants and skirts every single year.
- Stock up on the basics. White blouses, navy skirts, boys’ white shirts — these get destroyed. Buy more than you think you need. The per-item price at the uniform shops beats the September panic-buy at full retail.
Pro tip: go on a weekday morning, right when the shops open. The lines in the afternoon are real, and the popular sizes sell out by mid-August.
Shoes: the twice-a-year battle
Kids’ shoes are the most annoying purchase on the list, because every child needs them tried on in person. Lakewood’s shoe stores are used to the August rush — the staff will measure feet, pull half a dozen options, and let the kids run around the store to test them.
The checklist:
- School shoes (the everyday pair — for most schools, closed, dark, and sturdy)
- Shabbos shoes (the ones that actually still fit)
- Sneakers for gym and camp leftovers
Buy the school shoes now and break them in before the first day — nothing is worse than a child limping through week one in stiff new shoes. And check the soles on last year’s Shabbos shoes before you assume they need replacing; sometimes a polish and new laces buy you another season.
Supplies, notebooks, and the list
The school supply lists arrive and every mother reads them the same way: with growing dread at the specificity. Two red folders, not three. Wide-ruled, not college. The 24-pack, not the 48.
Lakewood’s Judaica and office-supply stores carry the full range, and because they serve hundreds of frum families, they tend to stock exactly the brands and types the schools ask for. The strategy that works:
- Consolidate the lists. If you have kids in multiple schools, make one master list before you shop. It prevents the “I thought we already bought glue sticks” problem.
- Buy the extras. Glue sticks, pencils, erasers, loose-leaf paper — these vanish by October. Buy double now while it’s all in one place.
- Label everything at the villa. Bring the labels or a marker and do the labeling in the evening at the rental. It’s oddly satisfying, the kids can help, and it’s one less thing hanging over you at home.
Seforim and the older kids
If you have kids in yeshiva or seminary, the seforim run is its own mission. Lakewood’s seforim stores are among the best anywhere — the selection is enormous, the staff actually knows the seforim, and you can browse in a way you can’t online. Bring the book list from the yeshiva, and while you’re there, let the older kids pick one sefer of their own choosing. It’s a small thing that builds a love of learning.
Making it a trip
Here’s the part that turns an errand into a memory. Book the villa for three or four days. Shop in the mornings when the stores are empty and the kids are fresh. Then spend the afternoons at the lake, the evenings at the villa, one dinner out at a family restaurant. The kids get a mini-vacation; you get the entire back-to-school list done without a single panicked September run.
Practical notes for the shopping-stay:
- Bring empty duffels. You’ll be carrying home more than you came with. Pack an extra bag or two specifically for the haul.
- Keep receipts in one envelope. Uniform exchanges happen. Keep every receipt together from day one.
- Photograph the lists. Keep the school supply lists on your phone so you’re not digging through email in the aisle.
By the time you drive home, the uniforms will be folded, the shoes will be in boxes, the notebooks will be labeled, and the first day of school will feel — dare we say it — under control. That’s worth a few days in Lakewood.
