You wouldn't believe all the school supplies my 2nd grader great niece Maddie has to round up this week. Big Sis shared the list with me, and I was mortified.
Ready or not, here we go: 2 boxes of zip lock bags, 1 quart and 1 gallon sizes; 2 erasers, 24 #2 pencils, box of washable markers, 4 glue sticks, 1 bottle of glue, 24 crayons, 1 pair of scissors, sharp; 4 folders with pockets, 2 notebooks, 1 big pack notebook paper, 1 package of baby wipes, 1 package of disinfectant wipes, 4 boxes of facial tissue, school box, and backpack w/o wheels.
Now back in MY day, before most of this crap was ever "invented," we got by with TWO pencils for the whole school year. We sharpened and re-sharpened them until they were down to 1-inch stubs by May. None of this box of 24 business. The number of crayons we brought to school was directly related to one's socio-economic standing. Eight was okay if that's all one could afford. I dreamed for the day I would take ownership of a Burnt Sienna and Flesh.
I'm totally clueless why Maddie and her pals need 4 boxes of facial tissue and all the wipes, other than the school district must have stock in the Kleenex industry. When I was a kid, no one brought boxes of tissue to school. We brought a handkerchief--and it was stuffed in a pocket or purse until it was so petrified with dried snot that there wasn't a single clean, usable square inch left, at which point it was taken home and washed--maybe.
A school box and book bag? Heck no. Not necessary. I'd just throw my school supplies and homework in a paper sack. Poor Maddie. On the first day of school, she's going to need a U-Haul! Ah, if only she could return to a simpler time--when two pencils, an eraser, a few crayons, and a Big Chief tablet was pretty much all a kid needed to get by. Oh, and a handkerchief--new or used--whatever. Speaking from personal experience, a shirt sleeve worked just as well.
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