The School Supply Circus

I have an issue with school supplies. Let's start with those yellow #2 pencils. I'd rather get a root canal than sharpen a box of yellow #2 pencils! No matter what kind of sharpener I try, the lead breaks, pulls out, or it somehow sharpens crooked so you have a wooden point instead of a lead one. Do they sell presharpened pencils?

My main problem is with the folders and notebooks in both Walmart and Target. Call me crazy, but I like my kids to have a set of matching folders and notebooks for each class. Also, unless teachers specify colors, I want my girls to have the cutest designs. It's something I can afford to do in order to boost their popularity. Oh, I know being popular isn't necessarily the best thing and also that kids don't get popular based on their school supplies. But it can't hurt. Have you heard the song Popular from the musical Wicked? You should see it if you haven't!

Back to the topic. The merchendising geniuses at Walmart and Target are not meeting my needs. For one thing, the folders and notebooks are in separate sections of the school supply circus. So you start by gathering up the cutest folders. There really are some darling designs out there. Then you risk your life pushing through grouchy parents and whining children to get to the notebooks. You search for notebooks to match the cute folders, but there are no matches. Frustrated, but not ready to give up, you pick up some notebooks decorated with other cute patterns.

Now you have one arm full of folders and one arm full of notebooks. You shoot a reassuring glance to your cart that is patiently waiting at the end of the aise because between 8am and 11pm from August 1 - 15, no carts can fit into the school supply circus. You head back to the folder section and put away the cute, but useless folders. You try to put them where they belong becuase you don't want to contribute to the chaos of the school supply circus. You are classy like that. You look for folders to match the notebooks. Guess what. It might take you a few trips back and forth to believe it. Let me save you some time. THERE ARE NO MATCHES.

It's an impossible matching game, even if you go early. Last year, I lowered my standards and settled for solid colored glittered notebooks that coordinated with patterned folders. This year, we bought plain colored supplies and customized them with scrapbooking paper and spray adhesive. Ta da!

Did I wow you? I'm not 100% sure the spray adhesive will hold up to my 8th grade daughter, but I will deal with that later. I'm done.