The most wonderful time of the year...

It's on. The countdown. To back to school.

I love summer. 

For the weather. 

What I strongly dislike is the lack of daily schedules. Bedtime routine is shot. Morning routine is shot. Dinner is late. Oh, there's fun. There's soccer in the yard. There are barbecues. There are parties. There's shenanigans. All of which contribute to no schedule.

Stupid unscheduled fun.

Even though it's busier, the school year is easier. Schedules. Homework. Bedtime. Wake up time. Breakfast time. The day divided by units. My favorite thing.

And so it is with glee that we wind down the month and get school supplies and school clothes and school shoes. We pack backpacks and book bags. Everything is organized and hung on a hook. It's a beautiful thing.

But, lets talk school supplies for a second, shall we. I revolted a little last year and didn't buy every single God damn thing on the list. Because, well, it's stupid. It wasn't enough to write about, just enough to complain about. Until this year.

Because this year...

For the 7th grader. He's to have 12 mechanical pencils with lead refills. AND three pencil sharpeners. What in the hell might he be sharpening? Because last I checked, the mechanical pencil negated the sharpener... Sharpening the colored pencils? Doubtful. The colored pencils go to school in August and return home in June in the same condition. They appear to hardly get used. Even if the sharpeners are for the colored pencils - are THREE required?

TANGENT: Now that I read that, does 'colored pencils' sound sort of racist?

Then the 3rd grader. Well, she needs 4 dozen pencils. Sharpened. I'm certain that I, in my lifetime, haven't used 48 pencils. How much writin' is she doing? Or going to do? In third grade? Are they raising money for schools by having third graders scribe books in the basement or something?

Back in my day...

Well, from what I remember, my mom bitched about the list back in my day too.