Thursday Thoughts- Stupidity or Sheer Brilliance?

It's that time of the week- Thursday Thoughts. :-) A dangerous place to be, inside my head, that is.  You just never know what you're gonna get.

This week we went shopping for school supplies. My children are elementary age, and if you have children that age, you know about THE LIST.  Yes, THE LIST. Seems to grow every year. And quite specific, mind you. Why each child needs three packages of markers, and colored pencils, and crayons I will never know . I'm not in the classroom, but I suppose there is a rhyme and reason to it. And make sure those folders are pockets only, please, and that the scissors are blunt or sharp tipped.  By the time you add it all up (their personal supplies and the CLASSROOM supplies. . . paper towels, kleenex and the like) you've spent about $80 on two children. This did, however, include one new backpack and one new lunch box. 

Is you have gone through this before, you will also know that trying to get the list done, with children in tow, in the midst of many other families doing the same, you will know that by the time you get out of the store, you are just a little more than crazy.

Which brings me to my point. I took the kids to a store where I could get everything. It was not a convenience store, but a well-known, national chain.  Going up and down the aisles and in between were school supplies beyond necessity. However, smack dab in the middle was an aisle of all wine and hard liquor. A full aisle of wine and alcohol as far as the eye could see, settled quite in the middle of the school supplies aisles.

I can not decide if this was sheer stupidity or a brilliant marketing ploy to increase alcohol sales. Because heaven knows, after what I spent, and what it took to find everything on that list, I was certainly wishing for something to ease my nerves. 

Yours, thinking it was a brilliant marketing ploy,

Melissa

Tuesday Debate- WHEN should School Start?

I'm still in a state of disbelief that school supplies are out. I mean, summer just got started, right? I'm just getting into summer mode and they want me to think about pencils and notebooks and backpacks and all those other things.  Nope, not ready yet.

I remember in elementary school, we did not start the school year until after Labor Day. Aahhh, the SEPTEMER start. That feels right. It feels like we've all been away from each other long enough to actually WANT to go back to learning in an educational setting. The kids are ready, the moms are ready, those wonderful teachers are ready- because we've all had the break we've needed. These days, the school year starts mid-way through August, so we can have a weekend off every month of the school year, which I loathe.  Having been an elementary and secondary teacher, I get teacher development, but think we're over doing it a little? I do!

Do you know that in Missouri, there is a Labor Day Start Law? Click here to read about it. Our schools are claiming agricultural exemption. Have you been to West St. Louis County lately? Yeah. I think our district is one of the worst offenders, yet we are by no means considered an agricultural community.  I love the schools here, and I'm completely grateful that we are  challenging our kids, but I would love to see it happen between September and the beginning of June with less days off. 

Opinions? Comments? What's going on in your community? Let the comments fly!

Yours, thinking I might start a petition,

Melissa