Supplying the schools

Tonight, I was talking to a friend and fellow mom of school-age children. Now that it's August 1st, we here in the Northeast have a little over a month until school begins. I asked if she had gotten all her school supplies. Answer - no. Me, yes. I bought them like three days after school let out. Yes, I admit, I love school supplies. I love them. I wish I still had to buy them. Well, I guess I kind of do, but now they're called office supplies. And I am the kind of person who has to have specific things and don't really like when other people share those things. Like, if you're going to use my stapler, put it back (just like in the movie, Office Space, excuse me but I think you have my stapler). I still have notepads from every company I ever worked for. I just love supplies!!! Anyway, she said one of the reasons she hadn't yet gotten the school supplies was because she was waiting for a sale. On what? I said, thinking I couldn't imagine getting the sales getting any better than the 25 and 40 cent ones going on now. Ticonderoga pencils, she replied. They're so expensive. Yes, yes they are. They're probably about $3.50 for a box of 10. Yes, they are the best pencils you can get. I buy them myself. But. This is the but. I must have given her a funny look because she said "they're on the list!" Oh, the list. I love the list. But, here's what I told my friend and here is what I will tell you. My own wonderful advice to all you parents hitting the stores for school supplies. There need to be two lists. Don't buy the Ticonderoga pencils for your daughter, I said. You know why? Because the Ticonderoga pencils aren't for your daughter. They're for the pencil bucket. What's that, you might ask. Many of you know this. I learned it the year my daughter took a pencil out of her backpack that had the eraser ripped out, the metal bent and looked like it had been chewed by a vampire. I was shocked. What did you do to your pencil? Nothing. What do you mean "nothing"? It looks like you forgot lunch and decided to eat the pencil instead. I didn't do it, the child protests. That's how I got it. Huh? Yeah. The pencils that you send in with your child in the beginning of the school year don't stay with your child. They, along with things like markers and crayons and glue sticks, get put in a collective pile for all the kids in the class. I know there are reasons for it - some kids don't have supplies, it's less of a distraction when kids don't have to sharpen pencils, all the kids are equal if they share. Yeah, I get it. And don't think I'm being insensitive to less-fortunate students. I'm not. It's usually the kids whose parents make a good living that are the ones who don't bother sending in supplies. I even send in extra in the beginning of the year! But none of that extra is Ticonderoga, I will tell you that! Call me cheap. Call me stubborn. I don't care. I will buy for the class - but they will get the regular Dixon pencils that are 10 for $1. The Ticonderogas stay in the pencil case. They do not make their way to the bucket. And don't even get me started on the wipes. There have to be baby wipes and antibacterial wipes and the baby wipes can't be a refill pack - they have to be original and they need them for their own class and they need them for the art teacher. Isn't this supposed to be the 'green' generation? How green can you be if you're using a box of baby wipes every week and it's not even for a poopy diaper? Wait, did I mention the glue sticks? 25 glue sticks. I imagine they will use them as lip balm or something or maybe the kids eat them? Hmm, did we talk about the elusive journal? There are different kinds for each grade and no one seems to sell them. Or maybe one lady goes and buys them all at the store that does sell them and then she fences them on the black market for a big profit. I don't know. Whatever happened to just getting a binder - that denim blue kind that everyone had and wrote on in non-washable marker? I will not let the school supply list kill me. Not now and not in January when the 25 glue sticks have been eaten up and I need to send in more.