Has anyone shopped for school supplies recently? I went on the big school supply adventure last week. I have serious issue with the school supplies supplier. Why do stores always run out of Pink Pearl Erasers and Glue Sticks? I went to three stores to find 5 pink pearl erasers. It's not like they wouldn't sell them later if they had overstock. This is also the first year we have needed a calculator. Elijah's teacher wanted a solar calculator. This was no easy task. I was looking for a small, simple calculator. The only ones left in the stores were the kind that you have no idea what most of the buttons mean or do. You could most likely create a rocket with it and my bright young 4th grader would be absolutely lost trying to figure out how to do multiplication. I finally found one, the last, lone green calculator at a Bi-Mart in Albany. I felt like it was Christmas and I was looking for that gift that everyone wants and the stores have sold out of. I was so happy when I found it.
The second issue I have with school supplies is that you need to take out a small loan to purchase everything. Buying for three school kids (now that Luke will be in Pre-School) was quite a chunk of change. Not only do we need pencils, crayons, paper etc. we also supply the school with Kleenex boxes, batteries and garbage bags (protection from lice). Do other schools do the white garbage bag thing? It has been a great protector from lice outbreaks at the elementary school. So, money well spent on the garbage bags.
I think one of the main reasons I have issues with school supplies is that it means it is time for the boys to go back to school. I like them home in the summer and this summer has flown by.
I will have to say the boys were really excited to get all of their supplies and put them in their backpacks. We still need to sharpen and label 300 pencils. Labeling pencils. I will devote an entire chapter in the book I hope to write someday about labeling pencils.
Speaking of books. Anyone have any great summer reads worth noting. I am finishing up three or so books I have been reading this summer. One about folks that moved to France "A Year in Provence" great book, very funny. Another about being an Indian Scout "The Way of the Scout" very interesting, I want to learn how to be not seen and not heard (may come in handy someday) and one that has been very uplifting called "The Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer. Great read about how much we battle in our thoughts that is so not necessary. Lots of good stuff. Would love to hear if any of you read a good book that you would recommend. Nothing sad. I don't do sad right now. No sad movies, books etc. I am working on Happy Thoughts. My next book "Water for Elephants" about the start of the circus. Sounds like home.
Also would like to note that I am still canning applesauce. Oh my word. It is never ending. Applesauce looks so pretty in the jars. I also canned 10 quarts of pickles. This is a family favorite. The boys are having a hard time grasping the concept of having to wait until November to eat the pickles. Rule of thumb. Enjoy the harvest of summer and save the bounty of can goods for the Fall/Winter months.
The highlight of the week was the play "The Wizard Of Oz" in which Elijah played the part of Mayor Munchkin and Levi was an Evil Magic Flower. They were Fantastic. I had to bribe Levi with 5 bucks to actually play the part of the flower. He did a great job. Elijah had a few lines with his part and was the perfect fit for Mayor Munchkin. We went to both performances and had a great time. Luke enjoyed watching his brothers and vowed never to take part in a play. I'm hoping he is up for bribes when he is older. I remember before having kids vowing we would never bribe the boys. We now look at it as a reward system. Actually, we don't pull out the bribe too often. I guess I felt Levi being an evil magic flower was bribe worthy. We gave Elijah five bucks for doing such a great job and really working hard the entire week.
Well I think I am done with this random post. Hope you all enjoy the remainder of summer. And let me know your thoughts on school supplies. And whatever else you want to talk about.
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5 comments:
Whew! That's a lot to comment on...that's when the "Show Original Post" button really comes in handy!
School shopping:
Oh man! I haven't even started getting my curriculum yet! I order half online and get the rest at Learning Palace. But I have never had to deal with the lists of supplies for sending kids off to "real" school. That's been nice. Gabby had a couple notebooks and things she needed last year for the first time, but for the most part I've avoided those aisles in Walmart, so I can't relate to the endless search for the perfect calculator...sorry! Glad you found one that doesn't have college level buttons, though!
Lice:
How do garbage bags prevent lice? Do you throw the infected kid inside and hope the lice suffocate before the kid?
Pencils:
300???? What the heck? Are they whittling toothpicks or something?
Books/Movies:
I just read "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck. Interesting, super short, one-day read. I just started "Those Who Love" and I can't remember the author right now, but it's a biographical novel about John and Abigail Adams. I'm only a few chapters in (it's about 600 pgs) but so far it's charming, sweet, and interesting, with good history tid-bits and trivia. Tonight, we were at the in-laws and wathced "Miss Potter" about Beatrix Potter with Renee Zellwegger. Great movie! I highly recommend it!
Canning:
I've never heard applesauce referred to as "pretty." I'd like to see what pretty applesauce looks like.
The Wizard of Oz:
I can totally see Elijah as the mayor! I bet he was awesome...I would have loved to have seen that! And I'm surprised Levi caved for 5 bucks. : )
Cute post~that was fun!
I did some school supply shopping yesterday. First, I combined all 3 boys' lists into one, that in itself took a good amount of time! I agree on needing a loan to pay for it all, I'm not even half way finished, and hoping I too don't have to go to dozens of stores to find *2* solar calculators. Oh and don't get me started on labeling ... ugh.
Well reading has been limited for me lately with a newborn and all. I started "A Thousand Splendid Suns", by the same author who wrote "The Kite Runner", back before Maizy was born and I'm not even half way done. It's a good book, I just find it hard to hold a hardback in one hand and a 15 lb baby in another! That reminds me, I was very excited to find there is a book by Dr. Seuss titled "Daisy-Head Mayzie", I had to order it from the publisher, but Maizy's going to love it when she gets older.
Kudos to Elijah & Levi, they did great :)
Hi! I saw you commented on my blog, so I thought I'd come on over and check it out.
I'm with Sharon, never really been in the throes of back to school shopping, but I did love it as a kid. I have a post coming on buying homeschool books so I don't want to say too much on the subject and spoil my upcoming post.
I look forward to reading your blog!
Garbage bags provide protection from lice??? What?? Do the students wear them on their heads? ;)
I was an elementary school teacher. In my first school district, the schools paid for Kleenex. I was a bit shocked when I put in a request for Kleenex at my second school district and was told that I had to buy it for my class!! I was a bit appaulled, actually! I gave incentives to my students who donated boxes. Oh, and batteries?? What are the batteries for?
FYI- I'm not a crazy stalker. Well, not a crazy one, at least. My name's Valerie. I'm the Children's Pastor's wife at CSCC. I found you through Sharon's blog.
Hope you don't mind me crashing your blog but it was passed on to me by my friend Nicole. And I have to say, I love your topics. I can relate already to so many of them!
First off on school supplies....I too have three children. Luckily one is only in preschool this year so no supplies needed for him (they just ask us to fork over a mere $50 and they buy them for us! How convenient...). However, the list for my girls going into 2nd and 4th grade was daunting indeed. And you're right... there's always at least one silly thing on that list you'd think every store on the universe would carry but we have to end up going to 10 of them before we find it. Last year it was multiplication flash cards. This year it was Crayola (and yes, our teachers specify "brands" they'd like us to buy. Bless their hearts...) water paints. Go figure! My only consolation was that we shared our frustrations with another mom shopping for school supplies that day and on her list was 36 glue sticks! Yes, 36 glue sticks. My husband did some quick math and multiplied by an average class size of 25 and figured that class would have 900 glue sticks in it! He politely asked the woman, "what are they going to do, stick the kids to the walls?" We were thankful there were only 5 glue sticks on our kids' list.
I too am curious about the garbage bag thing. That remedy hasn't hit our school yet but would love to know what it entails so I can pass it along to the teachers. Please do tell...
And thanks so much for the recommended books. I love to read but sometimes have a hard time finding the time. Seems my only time is before bed and of course I get 2-3 pages in on a good night before I fall asleep. I always like to hear of a good book though to take along with me on vacation and we're actually getting ready to go on one so I will check your recommended ones out!
And finally, the whole reason I came to your blog is because of your previous blog on canning that Nicole mentioned to me. I love to can too but have to admit I haven't found much time this summer to do any. Have only done strawberry jam and raspberry syrup if that's even considered canning at all (no processing required!). In previous years, I've done applesauce, apple butter, pears and peaches though. Need to try tomatoe sauce and salsa as I haven't done that one yet. Your blog has inspired me to find the time before the summer is over to can one more thing!
Thank you and I hope to continue to be on your mail list for your future blogs.
Ann Shultz
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