It’s Mid-August which means back to school here in Florida.

Back to School time! Hooray!

Ahem, Sorry, my excitement got the better of me there..

Although back to school time is exciting for some of us, it also comes with a bit of stress too. Those dreaded back to school lists hit us where we live, in the wallet. Some of these lists are a bit ridiculous to say the least. Like really? Who comes up with these things?

When you have a larger family it almost feels like you have to take out a small loan just to get through it all. This year I only had 3 lists to work with although I have 5 kids going back to school. Why? The high schoolers get lists after school starts. 

Here are the lists for the 3 youngest kids. They are in 3rd, 5th and 7th grades this year.  I will admit that the lists aren’t as bad as they had been in years past. There aren’t stringent demands for name brands and there aren’t too many “out there” items on the lists. Of course the folder thing is an issue every year. Teachers in our school always seem to want plastic folders with the prongs in certain colors. No big deal if you shop early, but do NOT try to get these within 2 weeks of school starting. ALL of the stores run out of them and do NOT get them back in stock before October. It took me a few years to catch on to this. (yeah I can be a bit slow)

I have been the “bad parent” who does not provide my chldren with the “essential” items for their education. I even *gasp* bought Kleenex instead of Puffs tissues once. OMG the horror of it all!

And every year there is at least one item on the list that I can’t comprehend. Like What the Hell is it?! Kinda thing.

This year?

Duplicating paper

really? Do they want a ream of plain old Copy Paper? I hope so because that is what I settled on after much deliberation. At first I was thinking that it was the old fashioned carbon paper. Remember that stuff? It was soo messy but soo cool at the same time.

Then I was thinking maybe it was the carbonless copy paper that they have now. But really, what would a 3rd grader do with that?

So yeah, copy paper it is. And if it’s wrong? I guess Megan will be the child in her class with the idiot parent this year. Oh well. Won’t be the first time…

Do the teachers put these mystery things on there to test a parent’s intelligence or something? Do you have any “mystery” items on your lists?

In the long run though the supply lists are a small price to pay for regaining my sanity. One more week until I regain a normal schedule! Whoo Hoo!