Adventures in School Supplies

I confess, I have an office supplies fetish. It started with school supplies.

Never loved school so much, but loved buying school supplies. Fresh notebooks, pencils and pencil cases, folders with pockets...it was like an early Christmas except better. As thrifty as my mother always was, I could convince her to buy nearly any sort of school supply because it was for the advancement of my education. I got to pick the colors I liked best AND I'd get a new bag to put it all in, which now makes me think my bag fetish can be blamed on school supplies too.

So now I'm the mom and I take Scooter to shop for his supplies and it's fun, though he isn't nearly as jazzed about colored pencils as I am. But since the beginning of his school career the fun of shopping for school supplies has been steadily drained by the ever-complex and ridiculous supply list provided by the school. I wonder at the need for every child in a third grade class to bring a can of Lysol spray to school. I suspect that having every kindergartner bring a ream of paper might be overkill. Still, I buy it. The only thing I ever balked at on the supply list was red pens. A red pen is only used for grading papers. I buy supplies for my child, not the teacher.

Shopping for supplies can also be dangerous. Last year the store we chose was overrun with parents and kids looking for loose leaf paper and protractors, and I had managed to grab the last package of dry erase markers in the store. Out of the corner of my eye, while perusing the No. 2 pencil display, I saw a woman reach into my shopping buggy and grab my dry erase markers. For a second I was taken aback, but instinct seized me and I seized her arm. I said nothing. Just looked her in the eyes, and she dropped the markers. That was a good choice.

So today we're off to buy our bundle of goodies. Somehow I think an extra notepad will end up in the mix for mommy. Combat pay.