School's Still Out for Summer...

While most of you have longer ago left behind the discussion of semesters, exams, grades, etc (I am talking about your own not your children's). It seems like not so long ago that August 1st meant scouring the weekly ads for promises of 50 cent pencil box, bargain basement pricing on Crayola (because I am a brand name loyalist when it comes to coloring supplies), and finding a way to make my household budget pay for my classroom back-to-school supplies. Last year I dreamt the night before school that forgot to get my classroom set up, make copies, syllabi, and attend the mandatory back-to-school meeting. I am a TEACHER! Hear me ROAR!!!

Now Abby is 4, it has been 4 years since I set foot in my own classroom. I still find myself up to my old habits. Luckily on a smaller scale, Jack needs a pencil box (preferably one that is blue and costs less then 51 cents not including tax- not to be found), red ball point pens (I can't wait to see what those are for- I hate red ink, almost as much as I hate red frosting), pencils-sharpened (DUH!), a 16 pack of crayons (not 24, but 16- do you realize that a 16 pack of crayons is hard to find and when you do find them they cost 4 times more then a 24 pack? conspiracy? I think so!) and scissors (I am going to take a stand- if you can't read the word you shouldn't get to use it). I like the slimmed down version of the 2nd grade back-to-school list.

The fun part starts when you read the teachers wish list (when I was a teacher we could only dream that there would be a parent that was willing to contribute to the education of their children by helping supply the classroom with my needs. I never thought I would see the day.):

• High Polymer Erasers (it took 2 office supply stores to find this superior grade of erasers)
• Rulers (If you were up at 6 am Sunday morning and took 3 other people with you, you too could have bought a class set of rulers at the right price- 1 penny. I was not so lucky.)
• Baby Wipes (I took care of that a long time ago, there were days that I did think he would go to school in diapers but really in the second grade?)
• Reams and boxes of paper ( Seriously! This one I have a hard time with, is the state of the California budget so bad that our schools can't afford to even buy paper for our students. We are a State that puts high stakes on standardized tests and our teachers don't have enough at the beginning of the school year to get the party started. We are in a world of hurt, if that is the case.)

I am happy to say that my back to school shopping is just about done. Last item to find a tennis shoe that fits Jack's impossibly narrow and long foot that Jack and I can agree upon. Wish me luck!