In some parts of the country, Back-to-School doesn’t happen until September, but not so in the South. My kids went back to school last week as 11th- and 3rd-graders – how is this even possible?
I’ve written before about how much I love that special day – for more reasons than one. I make a big breakfast and we celebrate a bright new scholastic year and the return of Mommy’s sanity. It’s a great day, right up there with Christmas morning.
But, much like Christmas, before the big day arrives, there are weeks of intense shopping. Sometimes I look at the school supply lists I get sent from the boys’ teachers and I start to think someone’s playing a cruel joke on me. Here are some of the items that have been on those lists the past few years:
- 8 Tennis Balls Per Student (to cut open and place on the feet of the desk chairs so the floor won’t get scratched). That’s approximately $10 worth of tennis balls per student; $200 worth for a class of 20. Maybe we should pool our resources with upcoming classes and buy different flooring instead!
- 2 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer. At 20 kids per class, that is 40 bottles of hand sanitizer, which equates to a bottle per week for 10 months! I heard somewhere that the main ingredient in hand sanitizer is paranoia. Now, I know it must be true!
- A Box of Clorox Wipes Per Student. Really? With all of that hand sanitizer being used, what’s left to disinfect?
- 2 Boxes of Quart-Sized Ziploc Bags. That’s approximately 1000 Ziploc bags for the classroom. What are these kids going to learn – how to freeze vegetables for the winter?
- A Clear Pencil Bag. Ummm….couldn’t they just use some of those Ziploc bags?
- Folders with Both Pockets and Prongs in Blue, Red and Green. And this is when I’m sure that the teachers are in cahoots with the folder manufacturers, because not ONE package of folders meets these requirements. You have to buy at least two different packages after searching every store in town to meet the Blue-Red-Green requirement.
At least one store understands. After enduring another round of Back-to-School shopping, this item definitely made my list:
Happy Monday,
Mary
