Crabby

Today's rant will cover school supplies and office beyotches. If these topics do not interest you, feel free to start up a FreeCell game. Also, I am crabby, which will either make this post really interesting or really jumpy-all-over-the-placey.

Okay, a few weeks ago, I paid a bunch of money for prepackaged school supplies for my 7th grader. At the time, I thought it was great - we'd just moved to the area and I was uncertain if this district was particular about brand names and such. (My niece's school requires Crayola crayons, Mead folders, Expo markers, etc. *NO* off-brand products or they'll tie you up and give you 30 lashes with a wet noodle or something.). I figured the school would have everything exactly as they wanted it right in that nice little package. Okay, it wasn't exactly little - hubby could have used it for bench pressing - but you get the drift.

So why is it that every day K comes home with a new list? Nearly every teacher has told the kids to get a new three-ring binder and a Duo-Tang folder and a spiral notebook for each class. And that's at the very least. One also required the kids bring in magazines "that they can cut from." Now, I have three subscriptions, so this last one was not a big problem for me (although admittedly I'll miss my Southern Living issue from March 2001; I am a big SL-saving nut) but I know people without any subscriptions, so are they going to have to go out and buy three magazines for this class? Or do they face the wet noodle?

Ridiculous. How are the kids supposed to fit all this extra stuff into their puny lockers, anyway?

Speaking of lockers: Today was the kicker in "supplies from hell" week. K brought home the entire contents of his locker, including the lock, because he was told that if he had not purchased a combination lock from the school, the school would cut his lock off. Now, I can understand the school needing all the combinations, I suppose, but why couldn't we have just given the combination to the office?

Background: When we first registered K for junior high, I asked about the locks. The counselor specifically told me that purchasing a lock from the office was optional. When I called today to find out what the deal was, and to see if K could just bring his combination to the office, I was told in no uncertain terms that bringing your own lock is NOT OKAY! The woman was yelling at me, seriously. I had to hold the phone away from my hear just to understand her.

Does every school have a bitch in the front office? Homeschooling is sounding better and better every day.

And that is all.