8 Things for 8th Grade — Our Mommy Daughter Walmart Trip

Eight Things, Eighth Grade, and One Very Determined Shopper

8 things for 8th grade was Olivia’s idea, not mine, and I think that is exactly why it worked as well as it did. School starts back in a couple of weeks, and instead of me handing her a list somebody else wrote, she decided she wanted to walk into Walmart and pick out eight things to get herself ready for the year. Eight things, eighth grade. That was the whole rule.

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Watch the whole trip above — or keep reading below.

We started at Starbucks, because I am not walking into a Walmart two weeks before school starts without sustenance. She got a vanilla bean Frappuccino. I got a Grande Frappuccino, a bagel with cream cheese, and a cake pop, and I regret absolutely none of it. Then we sat in the car for a minute while she explained her plan to the camera, which she will tell you she is not good at, and she is wrong about that.

Here is what I loved about her idea. It gave the whole trip a shape. When you turn a middle schooler loose in a store and tell her to get what she needs, you either come home with nothing or you come home with the entire beauty aisle. Eight is a number she could hold in her head. She counted down out loud the whole way through — four down, four to go — and she thought hard about every single one, because she knew that once she picked eight, she was finished.

And this is not a small season for anybody’s budget. The National Retail Federation’s 2026 back-to-school survey has families with kids in elementary through high school planning to spend an average of $863.86 getting ready for the school year. Eight things is obviously not the whole list. But it is one afternoon where the spending has a fence around it, and where she is the one doing the choosing.

What Olivia Picked for Her 8 Things for 8th Grade

She headed for the beauty aisle first, which surprised no one. A new blush, because hers was, in her words, on its last leg. A double ceramic thermal brush for her hair. Press-on nails, which she took her time over. A set of earrings. Then a chain, a three-piece ring set, a pair of black wide-leg jeans, and a cream hoodie that I fully expect to find in my own laundry inside of a month.

The Swap Is Part of It

Somewhere around number five she stopped in the middle of an aisle, held up two cards, one in each hand, and announced she was making a swap. And that is allowed. Swapping is part of it. She traded one piece of jewelry for another one she liked better, put the first one back where it belonged, and moved right along. Honestly, that was the most grown-up thirty seconds of the whole trip — watching her change her mind on purpose instead of just adding a ninth thing to the cart.

You Can Do This With Any Grade

Olivia said this in the video and I want to say it again here, because it is the best part of the whole idea. This works for any grade level. Five things for fifth grade. Twelve things for twelfth. One thing for first grade, and then let that first grader take a full twenty minutes deciding what the one thing is going to be. The number is not really the point. The point is that your kid gets a little bit of say in a season that mostly just happens to them.

We came home and she sat at the kitchen table doing her nails while we talked about the year coming up. Thumbs up or thumbs down, I asked her. Thumbs up. My heart was so full.

The other half of getting ready for school happens in my kitchen, and it is a lot less fun than a Frappuccino run. If you are staring down the lunchbox part of August, these are my school lunch ideas kids will eat — what I buy, what it costs, and why I quit apologizing for the bag of chips.

8 Things for 8th Grade FAQ — How We Did It

How does 8 things for 8th grade actually work?

Your child gets to pick a number of items that matches the grade they are going into, and that is the only rule. Eight items for eighth grade, six for sixth, and so on. They choose, you drive and pay, and the count does the work of a budget without anybody having to argue about a dollar amount in the middle of a store.

Do the eight things have to be school supplies?

Not at our house. Olivia said school-related and then interpreted that generously, which I was fine with. Notebooks and folders come off a supply list anyway. This is the other half of getting ready for a new year — the part that is about how she wants to feel walking in the first day.

How do you keep it from getting expensive?

The count is the fence. Eight is eight, so a more expensive pick means giving something else up, and they feel that trade themselves instead of hearing it from you. Shopping somewhere affordable helps too. If you want a firmer edge on it, set a per-item cap out loud in the parking lot before you go in, not in aisle six.

What if she changes her mind halfway through?

Let her. Swapping is the best part and it is where the actual thinking happens. As long as the number stays at eight, trading one pick for another one is entirely fair game right up until you get to the register.

What ages is this good for?

Any of them. Little ones love the counting and will deliberate over a single pencil case like it is a mortgage. Older kids like it because it is genuinely their call. And every one of them gets an hour or two alone with you, which around here is the rarest thing on the list.

More Family Stories You’ll Love

• Back to School Costco Haul — What $552 Buys for a Family of Seven — the grocery half of getting everybody ready, lunchboxes and all.
• Family Thrift Haul — What $140 Gets You When You Shop With Jonathan and Hannah — another day of shopping with my kids where everybody found something.
• Mid-Month Costco Haul for a Family of 7 — Plus My Daughter’s Birthday Cake — the run I did not plan on making, for a birthday I was not going to miss.
• I Got a Haircut Today — But Should I Keep the Pink? — a whole day of errands with my crowd, and a question I still have not answered.
• Fall Costco Haul — What $507 Buys for a Family of Seven — once school is actually underway, this is what the cart looks like.

8 Things for 8th Grade — About Stephanie Longstreth

Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.