Back to School is Looming

This coming weekend, our stores are having back-to-school specials where all school supplies don’t have to pay sales tax. It’s a nice perk, but I have a feeling the place will be PACKED. Think my five-year-old will care if I drag him off to Wal-Mart at 6:00 a.m.?

I’m looking over the kindergarten school supply list, and while some of the items seem pretty basic, others made me think–Huh???

1 large backpack (NO WHEELS)–This one is true even for middle and high schools. The wheeled backpacks don’t fit in the lockers. Makes sense.

2 boxes of brads (#3 or ¾”)–Brads?? What are these? I’m thinking they’re the brass spinny things, but I’m not quite sure.

6 boxes Crayola crayons (16 count)–WHAAA?? SIX boxes of crayons??? Okay, I know that kindergarteners do a lot of coloring, but six?? I remember that we had to actually take care of our crayons, and if they broke, we’d just sharpen them or peel back the paper. Not a big deal.

1 box sandwich zip-loc bags
1 box snack zip-loc bags
1 box gallon zip-loc bags–I’m not sure I want to know what the bags are for. Because if you figure 50 bags per box, times 20 kids, that’s 1000 bags. Times 3. Any guesses as to why 3000 plastic bags would be needed in a kindergarten class??

12 glue sticks (white only)–again, TWELVE???? I remember the days when we had a container of paste. And there was always some boy who thought he’d impress the girls by eating it.

2 bottles of Elmer’s 8 oz. glue with orange tip (white only / not washable)–Because if 12 sticks aren’t enough, we need 2 more bottles.

4 primary black & white marble composition books

2 plastic folders with pockets (no fasteners)

1 box of tissues

Did you notice the missing school supply on there? Take a second. What does every student need when they attend class? See if you can guess. I’ll put the answer in the comments at the end of the day.

By the way, I got a few nice surprises yesterday…one of which I’ll share later in the week. But I had to share this one. Romantic Times Magazine posted the review of The Warrior’s Touch, Connor’s book. They gave it 4 stars!