Back to School Blitz — the jen house

Here in the Pacific Northwest kids are starting their school year. It got me reflecting on how this "back to school blitz" got started and how things change over time. I believe my back to school blitz can be summed up in four school supply categories: clothes, crayons, pencils and glue. Here is why we need them for school and beyond.

Clothes

I am sure that long ago some pioneer kids wrecked their clothes by clearing land, building log cabins and harvesting wheat. At some point, one industrious mother thought it would be nice to reward her indentured servants with some new duds to wear to the local school house. After all they didn't want to be THAT family that showed up looking like they worked the land for a living. So while pa played the fiddle every night before bed, ma industriously sewed outfits for her beloved children choosing calicos she had purchased from the general store. . . Wait. . . I think that was from Little House on the Prairie . . Damn it Michael Landon (Pa) you are forever stuck in my brain. Well anyway, I think what really happened was one day people realized that it was time to press the reset button. A fresh start. What better way to start a new "anything" than feeling like you can take on the world in a new outfit?

Fast forward to my childhood where I remember the EXACT outfit I had on my first day of school. Yellow gauchos, a printed flower blouse and matching yellow vest with knee high socks and t-strap shoes. Yes it was homemade, no I do not have a picture but I DO remember wearing the outfit to school that day. I didn't even have to help "put up the crops" to earn this outfit. Apparently my mom was progressive and made it out of the goodness of her heart, no tilling of the soil required. . . Lucky me.

Gaucho pattern in lieu of pic. . . picture the purple gauchos in yellow!

Fast forward once again to today. This year starting on July 5th my inbox was inundated with emails of back to school sales, day after day, after delete this message day. I mean honestly do I look like the type of gal that really doesn't know what exists at Old Navy? Do you really need to email me EVERY day to tell me that you have back to school basics at 25% off? I get it, you want me to buy buy buy and get more stuff for my beloved child. I would hate for the school teacher to think we were THAT family. So I dutifully purchased six of the exact same shirt (thank you school uniforms) and called it done.

THE TAKEAWAY : One thing is for certain whether starting back in the day or literally yesterday when you look good you feel good and that is what you should remember here. Feel good about how you look, it really does help when you are trying to put your best foot forward. Know that no matter what you wear you can rock it if you are feelin it from within.

As I continue my blitz I am struck by the list of school supplies. . . . You KNOW what I am talking about ladies. The never ending list of things apparently all of our kids NEED for school. Now many of you may share my affliction . . err love affair with school supplies. I feel like if I buy them I will then of course be creative and smart. So immediately I look at the list and feel a sense of duty to best prepare my little one and so I start checking off items.

Crayons

The infamous box of 24. . . . . kelly green or yellow green. . . the choice is yours.

The list says; Three boxes of Crayola 24 crayons. WHAT three boxes? Seriously I got ONE box of 24 every year and that was living large. Oh sure we all remember the kid who had the 64 with the sharpener, THAT kid was never me (note to self - I'm adding this to my bucket list I'm pretty sure that I can not leave this earth without having my own box of 64). From what I remember no one cared if you were scrawling with nothing but nubs of yellow, blue and red in April . ONE box ought to do you just fine for the entire year, but the list says three so. . . . three boxes it is.

THE TAKEAWAY: No matter what colors you bring to the table. Use them. Use them often and use them well. Whether it is peach or magenta. Adding our own flair to artwork and life is what makes it worth living and each of us unique.

Pencils

The list says : Two boxes of Ticonderoga pencils PRE-sharpened. Once again what has happened? Is it just me? Who remembers going to the pencil sharpener with glee? Round and around it goes, the classroom trashcan placed underneath to catch all the shredded pencil bits. And what about those kids who stuck crayons in trying to sharpen them as well (obviously I wasn't the only one without the built in sharpener in the 64 box)? . . . Ahh good times. Not for my kid. Nope, he probably isn't going to know what to do with the stinkin pencil once it dulls. Most likely throw it out which is why he needed two boxes in the first place. And by the way since when did Ticonderoga take over the pencil market? Whatever happened to yellow number 2's and for that matter do they really sell pencils that are NOT made with number two lead?

In first grade I remember you needed TWO, count them one.. . . two pencils for the entire year. These pencils were a little fatter to help small hands hold appropriately. Apparently nowadays my kindergartener is so advanced he buzzed right on by the fat pencil developmental phase and is going to love writing so much he is going to work his way through 24 regular sized pencils in eight months. Look out literary world. . . Sonny boy is comin for you.

THE TAKEAWAY : No matter what type of pencil you bring to school tell your story. Write it, speak it and make it come to life. When we tell our stories we connect with others and we are all better for it.

Glue

The list says : Three one-inch glue sticks. Seriously? What if I get you a 1/2 inch glue stick? Are you going to fail kinder? ACH. How big is an inch stick anyway? I mean obviously I know its one inch . . . But when you are eyeballing the jumbo, the regular and the super-size stick we are sure grateful that there are rulers over in the next aisle so I can measure and ensure my precious, adhesive loving guy has the proper diameter glue stick. Phew problem solved.

Back in my day, mom always came through with the Elmers All-Purpose type glue. We quickly learned that you could rub it on your hands and peel it off when it dried and it looked like a thin layer of skin. That is about where the fun stopped. It was too easy to saturate paper with that kind of glue and it was indeed messy. But my problems were nothing compared to the kids who got sent to school with a jar of paste. What I really want to know is why did Clint R. get paste EVERY year and why didn't I get it ever? In a very true confession moment I loved the smell of the paste kids paste. It seemed like their glue would taste good. Since I never had paste I can not confirm or deny the paste tastiness factor, I just know that my glue tastes like. . . well glue.

What I DO know is that one could tell an Elmers glue kid's art project from a paste kid's art project any day of the week. A paste kid's project had splotchy pasty marks from where the paste stuck to something inadvertently and was actually still probably in the drying phase before the project was "finished." For that reason alone the paste kids' work looked a bit messy. The Elmer's projects may have had glue seeping out from every corner, but damn it all if it wasn't hard as a rock and dried "clear." I am also fairly certain there is probably some paste kid writing a blog angry with his parents because he never got the Elmer's glue and as a result his art projects looked like crap and he never got into art school as a result.

THE TAKEAWAY: Glue is important no matter what type you have. Glue are the friends and families that we surround ourselves with as we navigate life. They are the people we reach out to when we are not sure we can keep it together. Whether they are a jar of paste, Elmer's All Purpose, Rubber Cement or Super Glue they are what we need to make it to the next phase. God bless the glue in our lives. Sticky, possibly tasty but always needed to hold it together.

While I could go on and on about my memories of my back to school blitz like buying Toughskins at Sears or obtaining my very own terry cloth hooded t shirt . . . getting ready for school remains a fun memory. Here is why:

The changing of the season is a natural place to push that reset button that I referenced here. It is time in the middle of our year to take stock and try again. Yay for a fresh start.
The ringing of the school bell signals a rhythm for us adults too. Play time is over for now. We will play again but for now lets make some soup, watch some football and get some of the things done we put off over the summer and before the holidays are upon us.
It’s a time to dream. Dream of the future, what you want to be. No matter your age this time of year forces us to refocus and remind us that we are in charge of our own path. . . wherever that may take us.

If you ever stop by the jen house I can catch you up on how having a Pee-Chee hindered my memorization of the times tables, about a store named Bi-Mart and why I loved pencil boxes. In the meantime keep dreaming and realize that all you need for now is a new outfit and some crayons, pencils and glue.