06 August 2012

Back to School...

Elfie has a long list of stuff he needs, including Kleenex for the teachers.  I think this is now standard for all children:  bring your teacher Kleenex, hand sanitizer, and Expo brand dry-erase markers.  Then the gods of learning will smile upon you.  A few years from now, I will be packing a twelve-pack of toilet paper and a liquid soap dispenser in with the school supply goodie bags the teachers get each year.  Seriously.  Is anyone else old enough to remember being given essay notebooks and pencils in school? 

I spent more on G's stupid ID fees and "senior fees" and "elective class fees" and the like than I did on the entire trip half of our family took to Kansas for three days last month.  Yep.  One semester's worth of basics.  I didn't even get any senior photos ($35 for two 3x5's?  No.).  And I didn't pay for him to play sports, or park a car, or get an "activity pass" to see the football games my taxes are paying for already.  That would have run me... a lot more. 

So anyway.  Fees.  They're expensive.  Though I have to say that school-supply wise once you pay the high school level fees, it's good.  I just threw about $5 worth of notebooks and pencils into G's backpack.  That means I am done school shopping for him (yay).

Woodjie's class is really special and perfect and neat, but my.  I must buy five different coloured plastic binders, and they must have brads and pockets.  I can do this, you know, and it's not a big deal to spend 50-cents each on a list of stuff along these lines... but I tell you, I had to run to about three different stores.

And Evil-Mart is crazy!  We had trouble even getting in the door.  You take two steps, bump into someone, scoot over two more steps, somebody wants to get by, and so on.  Interestingly, there were no crowds or lines near the pet food section or the dairy department.  Or the books.  Really.  No one wants books during back-to-school sales.  You make of that what you will.  :/

8 comments:

  1. I do NOT miss that. At all. Back to school shopping felt like a scavenger hunt, and I hate those.

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  2. Funny, I wrote an article on school supplies yesterday at Examiner.com. Some parents are actually boycotting the elementary school extras, some because they can't pay and other because... why should they pay if others aren't? What are they gonna do, throw your kid out of school?

    Anywhoooo... I spend the year sorting through clearance bins at the drug stores and office stores and get all kinds of loot. I filled my son's college trunk with color coordinated notebooks and folders and such. I picked up some designer school supplies for my daughter when K-mart closed, and I filled 3 cloth grocery bags full of supplies for niece and nephews... 2 for college and one for middle school. I also have tons of items left over for the year and for Operation Christmas Child.

    What was my point?... oh yes, buy a little at a time all year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Which I would do if I knew a year ahead of time what they needed? I get crayons (used those) and notebooks when they are on sale, but how would I ever know to get the plastic, pocketed, with brads folders in five specific colours and that sorta thing?

      I hate back-to-school and if I had neurotypical children who didn't need special stuff and "favours" from the school I would totally boycott too. :/

      Delete
  3. Here's my spin on how I feel about schools and their fees:

    If you don't pay the 'voluntary donation' which by any other name is "school fees you MUST PAY", you are hounded by debt collectors!

    And it really is supposed to be a VOLUNTARY DONATION. Pfffft.

    On top of school 'fees' of $360 a year, you have Compulsory Costs... paper fee, photocopying fee, sports fees, stationery fees, book fees, technology fees... the list goes on and on... so at the end of the day you have to cough up about $1,000 at the beginning of the year.

    Griffin is going on a 4 day camp next week, another $235 thanks!

    And don't talk to me about uniforms! OMG you can only buy it from THE SCHOOL... so they can charge whatever the heck they want! AND they do. I bought Griffin a new winter sweatshirt for $80, sewed his name all over the damn thing... and it was stolen in three days!!! Never to be seen again.
    I just hope whoever stole it enjoyed unpicking his well stitched name .... on the neck, the bottom band and top of the pockets in BRIGHT GREEN. Grrrr.

    Oh and did I mention the school books? They insist you buy a 'stationery pack' which is supposed to have every book/pen/pencil/ruler/highlighters and so on that they will need for the year.

    So you buy it, and you dole out what they need throughout the year... and at the end of the year, you have 6 exercise books, 6 red pens, 7 black pens, 4 notebooks and a complete set of highlighters LEFT OVER. (approx)

    And you can't use them for the next year, cos they INSIST you buy a new 'stationery pack' EVERY YEAR.

    We don't have to provide the teachers with tissues though! That would make me say "Go to Hell!".

    But we do have to provide dry erase markers *sigh*.

    I have so many pet peeves with freaking schools and their expenses.

    Sorry for the rant! Nice to vent though... even if it's only in your comment box!
    lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I LAUGHED SO HARD!

      Here you went on about the extreme expense of an $80 sweater, uniforms and a bunch of godawful stuff... but Kleenex is the last straw!

      Ba ha ha!! Ohhh. Isn't it funny, we're all used to our own odd little forms of oppression. Kleenex is cheaper, tho'. :)

      Delete
  4. What you need is a one-stop-shop, with nothing but school supplies for all schools. So when Woodjie needs three different whatevers, they'll all be in aisle x in that shop. No more running all over town! Well, we can dream.
    Why do you have to supply the teachers with kleenex and sanitiser? Is it for their own use or for the kids?

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    Replies
    1. No teacher wants kids having snot running down their faces, so they have a box of tissues on hand at all times. So, it's like you're buying the Kleenex for everyone including your own kid?

      But still, crying out loud.

      Delete

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