Now, I go armed with my "official list" and buy exactly and only what's on it. And all the supplies go into a general pool so that my children are unlikely to use the supplies I've actually bought. Whose idea was this anyway? Honestly, if needy kids need supplies I'd rather by my child his and then buy a set for a needy child - rather than my kids getting the notebooks and folders that fall apart 2 months into the year.
Anyway, I digress. The real fun comes in trying to match what the teacher wants with what the stores actually have. For example, every list of every school for every grade asks for several of those ordinary black 'n white composition books. The kind that have been around since our grandparents were kids. You would think they were made of gold the was the stores never buy enough. Last year I had to try 3 stores before finding them. And please provide several boxes of sharpened pencils. Guess what? They (rarely) come that way. I would even be willing to sit and sharpen those several dozen pencils if i could find a sharpener that works!!
It's like the stores and the schools are on purpose at odds with each other. Okay, find 4 non-grommet pocket folders. All the folder have grommets in the spine. Find 2 red pens (can only purchase a dozen). Supply one zippered pencil pouch - may as well be looking for the Holy Grail. Find 2 boxes Ziploc bags, 3 boxes tissues, hand sanitizer... go find other department.
Someone should turn this into an Olympic event and get some real moms to show everyone else how it's done.
Off I go, then - into the fray...
1 comment:
be a whole lot easier if schools were properly funded and able to *provide* supplies! But that's a rant for another day. In our part of the woods, the trick is to get the school supplies before they all sell out, which they do roughly sixteen gajillion weeks before school starts. Try getting a reusable lunch bag after August 5, anywhere! sheesh.
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