It's August! It's hot! And it's time to go back to school shopping! Double dislike. Being a stay at home Dad has many advantages. I love being at every football game, band performance, track meet, and camp out. Making connections with my two boys on a daily basis is very rewarding. Then there is the mass hysteria called, back to school shopping. Can someone please dig up Dante' Alighieri's bones and breath life into them so he can add one more level of hell to his Divine Comedy? Don't get me wrong, I am all in for education. I want my boys to be well equipped for the year ahead, but there must be a better way.
My boys are going into the 8th and 12th grades. Yes May is going to be an all out graduation blowout at the Bordelon residence. So it's mostly high school supplies on the list. Their lists include items such as binders, three subject notebooks, index cards, and graphing calculators. You know the kind of calculators that can do math without numbers, but get high score at the register. There's also some what I would refer to as the kindergarten leftovers, such as color pencils, eight pack markers, and paste. I guess you're never to old to eat some paste. My problem is in the going to the store and fighting hand to hand combat to retrieve all these things. I don't mind being the shopper for the family. I've learned what days are safe to slip into the local Walmart and what days to stay far, far away from that Hell. For reasons beyond me every store has to have a special section just for back to school shopping and it has to have big, bright, flashing signs to advertise it's existence. I think it's a waste of money to make all these signs when the three ring circus battle can be seen from the interstate. Surely, everyone loves to be in a death match with the mother of three screaming kids over the 99 cent pack of markers! And who doesn't enjoy the sweet sounds of a seven year old screaming, "But I want the Transformers back pack Mommy!" *insert sniffling* Everyone should have the heart warming satisfaction of watching twelve year old girls rip apart the last One Direction notebook. It truly is something to experience.
This year my two job working wife was able to help me with this nifty little chore. Actually, we used half of our date night and slipped into the Target store. We thought, this store is much more high scale and should have a much more organized back to school section. We were wrong! I've seen natural disasters look better than these three aisles. My wife handled it with style and grace, while I did everything I could to rush the operation as much as I could. On the ride home, from date night, I couldn't help but think, "there has to be a more civilized way to go about preparing our Sons for education". In the end our kids have all the school supplies they need. Not to mention the school uniforms, shoes, cleats, gym clothes, band shirts, saxophone reeds, updated eye prescriptions, mouth pieces, socks, underwear, and a few other must have items. All will be forgotten with the first day of school. Our focus will turn to remembering and cherishing every moment of their Senior and 8th grade years. As much as I love being a stay at home Dad, I guess there will never come a day where shopping is a job perk.
Hope everyone has a happy and successful school year!
