The boys were feeling out of it...

because they were the only kids in Wal-Mart and Target not wondering about with a list of absurd teacher requested school supplies. I misunderstood their despair and offered to have them help pick out any new supplies we need for the year. But the problem was that they wanted to be among the children with a list of impossible to find supplies and parents with severly frayed nerves. So I offered to make up a list. Just so they can have the experience.......How about 4 pocket folders - orange, light blue, chartreuse and puce. No substitutions. 4 spiral notebooks with covers to match. College ruled; 85 pages only. No substitutions. No buying a hundred page notebook and tearing out 15 pages.


While wandering the toiletries aisle at Target I was aghast at the family working through the quandry of a school list that requested 2 packs of unscented baby wipes. The unscented wipes were sold out and the frazzled Dad was trying to convince his fourth grader that he would not be expelled for bringing in scented wipes. (I’m not so sure he was right. Schools can be pretty liberal when it comes to flavored condoms, but you’d better be toting the unscented wipes... And why would fourth graders be needing wipes any way? Lack of running water? Better hygiene? An attempt to keep kids clean while minimizing trips to the washroom?)


I was trapped in the checkout line (with 1 item) behind a woman who spent over $200 on school supplies. My mind flitted between sympathy and wondering where the heck all the scissors, glue bottles, protractors, etc purchased last year have gone. Do they get dumped at the end of the year? Is anything salvaged - at least for home use?

I scooted past this lady on the way out because increased security had men checking the carts that were overflowing with stuff. I didn’t see her following behind me when I shouted to Chuck something about, “Sorry it took me so long - I couldn’t help it that I was stuck behind someone buying $200 in school supplies. “ Chuck tells me that the look on her face showed that my comment did nothing to lift her spirits. Ooops.