Sara Starts Kindergarten

Today was Sara's first day of Kindergarten. We spent a good portion of the weekend trying to track down all the supplies that Sara was required to have before her class starts. While some were quite easy to find, others proved to be elusive. It was bit like going on a scavenger hunt. Here's the list of "required" items:

1 Regular size backpack, no wheels
6 folders with "brads" (I wasn't sure what "brads" were, but once I found out, I could only find two of these folders at the various stores we went to)
2 packs multi color construction paper 9x12
1 pack multi color construction paper 12x18
2 packs of manila paper 12x18 (the hardest thing to find here was this paper)
2 packs of manila paper 9x12
2 Wireless journal/composition books
6 boxes of Crayola crayons - 24 count
2 pack of #2 pencils, 24 count
2 boxes of washable markers
2 pairs of blunt Fiskar's scissors
6 small bottles of Elmer's glue
2 glue sticks
1 school box needs to fit in desk
3 boxes of Kleenex
1 box of quart or sandwich Ziploc bags
1 box gallon size Ziploc bags
1 package of 50 paper plates
1 package of Play Dough

Can you believe this list? Am I supplying one child, or the entire class? Back when I was in school, the only supplies I can remember bringing were paper, pens, and a notebook. Has the school system gotten so bad that now the parents handle the school supplies budget? Just think if every parent buys all the items on this list, the school is set. We found most of the items on the list, but not all of them. What we did find set us back about $50.

Naturally, Sara was very excited to go back to school. She woke up early on Monday morning and came into my room.
"Why are you up so early?" I asked her. "School doesn't start until tomorrow."
"I just wanted to practice waking up early." she said.

Wow. I don't remember having this much enthusiasm about going to school, but I think it's great that Sara does. I think she'll be an excellent student.