Today, I am unloving...

Last Friday, I went shopping for Noah's big school bag since he starts Grade 1 tomorrow. So more accurately, last Friday, not today, I was unloving... the school bag options I had before me.

I came from the Grade 1 orientation that morning and they recommended the big, rectangular trolley bags versus the backpack-looking ones with a trolley. This was because it could both fit the 7 long plastic envelopes which held the materials (books, notebooks, etc.) for each subject, and pulling them out & packing them away would be easier for the kids with the rectangular bag (If you don't know which bag I mean, check out this post from mymomfriday here where she dissects the anatomy of a trolley schoolbag.).

First, I was unloving... that there were no non-cartoon-character designs like the prints above from Dwell Studio (incidentally, it's home/table end-of-season sale time at Rustan's from June 1 to July 31). I would have loved for Noah's bag to have cute elephants and giraffes (Maybe two of each animal for an apt Noah's Ark theme?). Or a print with generic (vs. branded like Disney Cars) cars, trucks, bikes and airplanes like the one above.

Then, I found out how much the trolley bags were and I, not only unloved it, but loathed it. Almost P4,000!!! Unbelievable! Just a little more and you'll be able to buy an old model of Samsonite luggage! It just seemed excessive for a school bag! 

Surprisingly, each character (Justice League vs. Disney Cars vs. Batman vs. Ben 10 for boys) was made by a different manufacturer. So there was an eager salesman ready with his salestalk with every character trolley I inspected. Since every one of them were priced anywhere from P3,000 to P4,000. I ended up listening to each salesman's spiel and decided what to buy based on who gave the best reasons to buy their trolley. Every salesman talked about:

1. what could fit into the bag (legal size folders),
2. what could be placed in each compartment (like extra clothes in this pocket or pencil case & crayons in that pocket),
3. a raincoat for the bag,
4. a free lunch box, and
5. six spinner wheels (Yes, even more than my Samsonite! Seriously!).

But one salesman's spiel stood out - the Lightning McQueen one - because he talked about:

1. the durable plastic material of the cover & the sturdy board material of the bag's sides - strong enough for the child to sit on the bag,
2. the rivets that were lined with a waterproof material because, he said, kids spilling liquids on the bag was unavoidable,
3. the rubber material of the straps' clasps which prevents them from breaking off or pinching a kid's fingers (he would bend the clasps to show it wouldn't break and gave me a tip that a peeking white line signaled plastic),
4. rubber reinforcement on the back of the bag that is aligned with the trolley bars so banging of the bag's back on stair-steps will not lead to the trolley bars getting stuck or destroyed, and finally,
5. the lining of the free lunchbox was thermal to keep food hot. 

So Noah will be going to school tomorrow with a Disney Cars 2 trolley bag. Based on the salestalk, it seemed like it was the best one at the store. But I would have loved better-looking non-character prints or a much lower price. So today, I am unloving... the school bag trolley options in SM last Friday.

Photo from the Facebook page here of Quirks Marketing, distributor of Dwell Studio in the Philippines.

Click here for previous posts from the Today, I Am Unloving series. Click here for the non-schoolbag bag I also bought last Friday.