A Back-To-School Sidetrack

I took a break last night, I hope you don’t mind. We had a busy day around here yesterday and I needed some time to myself last night. I spent much of the day running around trying to finish getting the kids’ school supplies. We’d had some donated to us about a week ago and I got a second donation yesterday, this one including backpacks. So I had to spend a while going through what they got from donations and then make a list of what they still needed and go purchase it all.

I found all but two items at Dollar General, where I encountered another mother finishing her kids’ school shopping. Both of us were harried because we couldn’t find everything and our kids kept asking for us to buy treats for them. She had both of her kids with her but I only had Dolly with me. The boys are old enough now to stay home for an hour or so by themselves. Anyway, Dolly kept asking me for small packages of mints, and wouldn’t stop.

I was already paying $40 plus for their school supplies and they’ve had way too much junk food lately so I was not going to buy candy. As we walked out to the van with our bags she began throwing an all-out tantrum in the parking lot because, “I WANT SOME MINTS!” She was serious too. I was already aggravated at the amount of school supplies they need. Am I remembering incorrectly or didn’t it used to be that our parents had to buy us a couple of notebooks, pencils and maybe some crayons? As we got older a binder might be required.

Since my kids started school I feel like I’ve been supplying the entire classroom with supplies. Both boys need two binders, three spiral notebooks, 24 regular pencils, two boxes of crayons and/or colored pencils, bottles of glue, erasers, construction paper, pocket folders with brads, and notebook paper. Zach needs graph paper, Ty needs an entire package of red pens, and Dolly needs more than the boys need sans the binders but add a box of ziplock baggies. They all need between two and four dry-erase markers and three boxes of tissues. When went to school I don’t ever recall having to supply the teachers with their supplies – chalk, erasers, construction paper, pencils, etc. But we have to do that now.

On average there are 20 kids to a class so each class will have 60 boxes of tissues, 480 pencils, around 60 dry-erase markers, 80 notebooks, and Dolly’s class will have 20 boxes of baggies. What the fuck? There is no way they will use all those supplies in a year. What happens to the balance at the end of the school year? I don’t get them back and I know in the past that my kids have not used everything they’ve been required to bring. So you see my frustration. Then Dolly topped it off with her screaming fit.

She screamed all the way to K-mart, which is in the same parking lot as Dollar General so we were walking there. She yelled at me the entire time I walked around looking for Ty’s package of red pens and Zach’s package of graph paper. She wanted mints. The entire store knew it and I’m guessing that anyone within a five-mile radius knew it. She wasn’t getting them simply because of her behavior but her noise was getting me more irritated by the minute. I found the pens but the graph paper was nowhere to be found. I finally gave up, paid for the pens and we left. She screamed the 45 seconds it took us to get home, and then refused to get out of the van until I told her she wouldn’t be happy if I had to reach in and pull her out of it.

We went inside where she stomped up the stairs and then I spent another while completing the distribution of the kids’ school supplies and making sure they had all they needed. Back-to-school night was last night so they had to take their supplies with them to avoid having to carry the overloaded backpacks and boxes of tissue on the bus tomorrow. Actually it’s today; it’s past midnight by me. The school supply shopping and tantrum took place Monday afternoon with back-to-school night later that evening.

Zach threw a hissy fit just before we had to leave because he didn’t want to take all of his supplies with him; and their dad, who relocated back here this past Saturday – another story for another night – was late meeting us to go to the schools with us. Zach wasn’t happy. Everything worked out fine, though; we got to Ty’s school, found his homeroom, dropped off his supplies and headed back to the cafeteria for the free hot dog dinner they supplied. As we walked back we ran into Paul who’d just arrived. We finished there and went to Zach and Dolly’s school to do a repeat of teachers, classrooms, hot dog dinner.

By the time we got home I just wanted to sit and relax. Paul, who’s staying with us off and on until he finds a place of his own, sat outside on the stoop drinking a beer so I joined him. The kids were out there playing – their last night of extended play – so we sat there chatting and watching the kids. We all finally went inside, the kids got ready for bed, Paul went to his room and I sat in the living room by myself, having a couple more beers and just letting the stress wash away from me.

School starts in the morning and I can’t wait for the kids to be back on a regular schedule. I tried so hard today to get some things done around the house but I got nothing accomplished because every time I tried one of the kids needed something. I finally gave up and spent the latter half of the day watching TV and squeezing in a quick chore here and there. All the kids were in the house tonight by 8:00 for showers and bed, Paul watched TV with me for a while and then he went to his room so I came up here to my room to relax and watch some TV in peace, and to put up a post tonight.

Not that I really had a lot to say because anyone with kids in school probably understands what my day was like yesterday. I just wanted to gripe a bit and explain my absence from last night. I’ll be back tomorrow, though, continuing the shelter saga. For tonight I’m going to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the quiet of the night.

Until next time…peace to all.