The school supplies are on display at WalMart and people are already starting to stock up. Each school in our area provides a list of the paper, pencils, crayons, folders, glue, etc. that their little students will need for the year. Each year it seems that the lists get longer and more complicated. I feel sorry for the parents, especially if they have more than one child. I may be wrong, but I don't remember us buying so much when I was a child.
New tablets and pencils were exciting to me as a young student. I excelled in school and the supplies were the tools of my trade. I was also an organized child and I liked file folders and notebooks with dividers and tabs. I loved structure and attention to details. There was something so exciting about the possibility of getting everything in my life organized and "just right". Of course it never happened exactly like that, but a stack of new supplies always made it seem possible.
A new school year also meant new shoes! For many years we got new shoes at the beginning of the school year and then another pair if those wore out. I must have been hard on my shoes because I remember putting cardboard in them to make them last just a little bit longer. I also remember sitting with my feet flat on the floor so my classmates wouldn't see the holes in the soles of my shoes. Looking back I realize that in the neighborhoods we lived in I probably had better shoes than most of my classmates!
My mother made most of our new clothes, so in August-September when the grapes were being harvested and we had a little money she would shop the fabric stores. We'd go home with bags of material and she'd spend weeks sewing. The boys usually got a couple of new shirts and I would get a dress, shirt, and skirt. Then we'd shop at Cherry Auction, the local flea market, for other items. My grandmother also made clothes for us and some years my aunt brought me sweaters.
I have a few of my own supplies to buy for the coming year. I like for my desk to be organized and I still like notebooks and file folders. I write with mechanical pencils and I grade papers with a variety of colored ink pens. Since I teach kindergarten I know we'll need playdough and name tags and finger paint. I'd like a new rug for our reading area. And the doll in the home center needs some new clothes.
Guess I'd better go to WalMart...
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