Back to School Coffee Klatch

Well, I don't pack brownies etc. anymore, but Jane does get a peanut butter sandwich as she likes it.
I usually make 2 sandwiches as one of her friends doesn't get lunch from at home and she doesn't like the lunch provided, so Jane always ended up giving her half. Then I started making 2 sandwiches and both are happy. I usually add fruit too for both girls...

A good variation of the regular peanut butter/jelly sandwich is almond butter with apricot or apple jelly.

Good Heavens!
That's a HUGE cone!

Is that the typical size?

I was thinking it would be the size of a waffle cone.

She had none!

She read on her own because she felt like it, but no assigned reading.

We had the school supply sale thing too (buy a bagfull of stuff instead of Target etc.) but I was at a meeting and E.G. forgot to take sozlet. It's the first year I had to brave the wilds, it was kind of insane. And I never did find those fine-tip black dry erase markers!!! Oh well.

I pretty much do that with the extras too. Typically I'll put in some extra baby cheeses and some extra of whatever dessert she has.

Lucky - it is half the battle - making them do assigned reading - they'd read on their own - my daughter wanted to read the new Theordore Boone book - but it wasn't on her reading list. She finished though so I said I would buy it for her.

The younger has one more book - we want it read prior to the last week in Aug as we will have vacation together.

There is always one item that seems like you travel the world to try to find. One reason it is such a pain to buy school supplies.

I kind of enjoy back to school shopping. I went to Target, it wasn't crazy at all.

I did get into a conversation with another shopper after she overheard me asking a clerk where I might find a particular item. I told the clerk that I thought teachers went out of their way to put one really bizarre, hard to find item on the list as a way to prank parents. Other shopper said "are you looking for two black, fine point, dry erase markers?" I said "No, I'm looking for an all metal pencil sharpener." We were laughing about how every year there is one item that you just can't find when other shoppers jumped in and we all started comparing lists. It was all fun and funny.

I was thinking it would make a great sit-com scene for some show like "Louie".

Yeah I wouldn't mind if the teacher didn't throw in that curve ball.

Must be payback of some sort.

Ha! Yeah, there was some mom-bonding going on that was fun. Sozlet took the list and treated it as a scavenger hunt and enjoyed it, I stood back and loosely supervised. I just dislike shopping when there are SO many people (and the whole place was packed, between back-to-school shoppers and back-to-college shoppers).

Or the TI-somenumber calculator on the sixth grade list that they'd need for calculus 4-6 years down the road. It was well over $100. It's absurd to think that it would survive that long. Oh... you could get one from the school for a slight discount but it was bright yellow and identified the kid as a dork (or so my neighbor told me when her son was horrified to have to pull his bright yellow calculator out of his backpack).

Sure enough, by the time one of my kids was taking HS calculus they called for a different calculator that was, again, well over $100.

Okay, forget school and get back to food.

The best peanut butter sandwich variation is peanut butter topped with slices of dried apple.

Okay, back to school

Dried apple. Interesting!

I'm having to stay away from chewy stuff until her braces are off, but that sounds good.

What! No way.....

That one takes the cake.

I remember that nearly every year, from the 2nd grade forward, we would have a compass and a protractor on our lists.

Maybe each one got used once a year. It seems like the school could have sprung for a few of these for all the students to share.

Yes, that's a typical size, but mostly it's not all candies. Crayons, erasers and other stuff is added too! Watching the German first graders on their first day of school is quite a treat - all they care about is that mighty cone and what's in it

I am going to try that, roger! Thank you for giving us another variation of the plain old pbj sandwich.

That is a steep price indeed. What I disliked with a passion - especially in elementary school, was that the teachers had specifics about what kind of
pencil and crayon holder it had to be, it needed to be a particular folder that you couldn't get at Target or any regular outlet - no it was only available at Staples or Office Depot. I always wondered if they got some kind of commission of it.

Today was my five year olds very first day of school. I dropped him off this morning and my partner picked him up and called me, said the boy loved school and hasn't stopped talking about it, he can't wait to go back tomorrow

Awesome! Tell us more...

Will do when I see him, he's with Morgan until I get home from work I spoke with him on the phone just for a minute but he seemed thrilled

aawwww, ......I remember those days too! My daughter marched right into Kindergarten and loved it too, except for sitting still and being quiet - that took a long, long time to sink in.
Marco, it makes it so much easier for you to have little Marco like school,
so I am glad he does!

I picked him up and he talked about his day for a solid hour. He met a new friend but he doesn't remember his name, he had to share his lunch with him because his mother didn’t make him one.

I’m guessing his teacher didn’t make a good first impression because he asked her if he could bring his dump truck tomorrow and she told him no. lol