School Supplies

The time is quickly approaching when the Peanut will finally be starting school. I say finally not out of my own relief about a mandatory 2 1/2 hour break each week day for me, but because the Peanut has been begging to go for two years now. Ever since he saw the shiny yellow school bus drive by our house one wintry morning filled with red cheeked children weighted down by giant backpacks, he's wanted nothing more than to be counted among their ranks. It was the driving force behind our potty training success.

"Peanut, you can't go to school in diapers. It's not allowed. You have to go pee-pee & poo-poo on the potty."

It resulted in several sits on the toilet throughout the day even if the results of the labor were fruitless just so he could call out, "I'm sitting on the potty! I can go to school now!"

Well, with the new school year upon us I responsibly planned ahead by figuring in some extra money for school supplies into our monthly budget. I naively figured $15 should be plenty for Junior Kindergarten and dutifully entered the amount into the school supply column.

This week I visited our school district's website and printed off the list for the Peanut's K4 class. My immediate thought was.... "What the.. ?" After the initial shock wore off I headed out to our trusty WalMart and began ticking off the items on the list as the Peanut lobbed them into the cart. Helpful as always. Needless to say, after I track down the elusive $6 gel markers the list will be complete. Grand total: $31.10. The Peanut was highly disappointed when at the climax of the shopping trip (picking out a backpack) he was told that Speed Racer was not in the budget. Wait until I tell daddy that thanks to Lincoln Elementary, toilet paper isn't either.