It's That Time of Year ... 100 Pre-Sharpened Pencil Time!

I sit down a little while ago to do the inevitable and combine three school supply lists into one easy list for shopping.  As I have the three lists in front of me, I realize just how specific these lists are but horribly so.  It's not a pack of crayons, it's Crayola crayons only and very specific scribblers, pencils, etc.  Before I have a teacher jump down my throat here, I understand that it's better to have the classroom uniform and all the kids have the same things but my question is this:  does it really have to be Crayola, Hilroy, HB, Fiskars, Mead and everything else brand name?  Why can't it be no-name or dollar store brands?  I understand there are some things that can't be found as a no-name product but come on, there's no reason to not break it down to minimal name brand supplies.

Let's look at it this way:  I don't live in the best of neighbourhoods.  Where I am situated, although close to an elementary school, is a combination of low-income families, single working mothers/fathers, fixed income families and other assorted families peppered between senior citizens.  It's a quiet neighbourhood but still a little sketchy as one would expect from a low-income area.  So, if the majority of the children going to this elementary school are families like mine and budgeted to the penny, than how is it possible to expect all of these families to come up with the supplies?  Okay, I'll concede that a lot of them have one child which makes buying supplies easier but, for the most part, it's two or more children in the school and that can make for a small financial crisis.  I didn't start this to complain though as this is a time of year I normally enjoy and not just because the kids are back in school but because we have a lot of fun getting ready for it.

Back to school shopping is normally a game.  The kids and I pick a day to go to the stores with our list and turn shopping into a scavenger hunt where each will be given a supply to find and put in the cart.  Sounds kind of boring but think of chasing three little people with a shopping cart while they get excited over the pretty folders and the funky scissors, can't help but have a good laugh at the red-faced little people fighting their way through an aisle full of crayons.  Oh and the look on their faces when they can't reach is priceless and turns them into tiny engineers if I don't get down the aisle in time to get it for them.  Then it's home, a little pizza party to celebrate our conquest followed by sorting it all out.  Everyone in their own spot with their list yelling out what they need while I toss it in their pile.  Once that's finished, it's the labelling and packing and bed.  Doing this last year was actually quite simple and I was blessed with the list requiring a lot of dollar store items but this year, well see for yourself:

• Edit:  List of supplies has been removed as it was brought to my attention that the post was coming across as a shady way of asking for help and that is not the case.  My apologies to anyone who misunderstood the point of this entry and I do thank you for the offers of assistance.  Please, all I ask is that you keep on reading ...

I still have some supplies from the last school year but not nearly enough to get them through.  When I add school bags, lunch bags, gym sneakers, new clothes to the list it makes my head spin.  I want to enjoy this back to school season as much as the other ones, not fret over if we're going to get it all together in time.  I've already mentally written the note to the teachers to say, "sorry but you'll just have to wait for the rest".   No harm in that I guess and I'm sure I'm not the only parent who isn't able to afford everything all at once.  I know I could've done it all in bits and pieces over the summer but all of the extra money went to my doctor's office to pay for the reports requested by my employer, Shepell and ManuLife.  That itself is a totally new post.

So, dear readers, cross your fingers that at the end of this month I'm delegating the sharpening of 100 pencils to a group of tired babies of mine in preparation for the impending trek to the classroom.  I can't think of anything I'd rather do than a school supply pizza party with my little munchkins.

Who can resist chasing these three tiny crazy people around Wal-Mart?