Back to School

I know it’s only the second week of July, but I was in newWalmart today and they had HUGE displays of school supplies. The schools in our county do start the middle of August, but it does seem a little bit early to start hounding parents about getting kids ready for school.

However, I can tell you that the first, and most avid, customers of all those shiny supplies will be the classroom teachers. The average “civilian” would absolutely NOT believe the amount of their own money that teachers, particularly elementary teachers, spend on supplies for their classroom. Sure, some states supply the majority of the basics, and in others the parents are provided with long lists of items to send with their kids. But neither method covers all the needs, and so teachers do what they can to fill the gaps.

The years that Mamie spent as a classroom teacher were focused on the summer back-to-school supplies deals. At some point during the summer once the sales were on, we would get together and try to purchase what she might need for the coming year. Of course, we could not anticipate every need and things didn’t usually last the whole year, but it helped.

The first summer before Mamie was no longer going to be in a classroom, I was relentlessly drawn to the school supply displays. With a feeling of great sadness, I stroked pencil boxes, brushed fingers over boxes of crayons, and gazed regretfully at piles of notebooks and stacks of folders. The urge to buy something, anything, was great, but I turned away. The second year was easier – I looked but didn’t stop. Today, I just kept on going with barely a twinge of awareness of what I was seeing.

What did get to me, though, were the “Back to College” displays. The Walmart ad that came the other day featured all this stuff, and today the displays were all over the store. Bowls, plates, cups, wastebaskets, laundry baskets, storage containers, sheets, comforters, pillows, towels, faux suede storage ottomans, every possible household goodie a college-bound kid could want was there for the taking. And featured in 4 colors – PURPLE being one of them.

Purple is Mamie’s favorite color, and the temptation to grab purple items for her was almost overwhelming. She IS 40 years old, but it seems like there are times when I revert and think of her as 20something. I think I may have a problem.