I remember looking forward to the first day of elementary school: searching for my name hanging from the front of a desk, shiny black chalkboards and unopened boxes of chalk, and the smell of a clean and disinfected classroom. I walked into the classroom carrying only a lunch bag and a nickel for a carton of milk. Everything else I needed was waiting for me on top of or inside my desk: new pencils and tablets; a large pink pearl eraser; and crayons, scissors and construction paper. That was exactly 60 years ago yesterday.
Yesterday morning, while on my daily walk, I passed many parents escorting their children to their first day of elementary school. One set of parents was leading two kids. The father and the mother were each hauling two completely full Target bags.
“You didn’t have enough time to drop off your Target bags before you walked your kids to school?” I asked.
“Oh, no,” replied the mother. “Their knapsacks are full of permission slips and their snacks, lunches and a sweater in case the AC is too cold. We’re carrying their school supplies.”
She drops and opens the bags. I see packages of new pencils, pencil sharpeners, pencil boxes, pens, crayons, color pencils, “ultra-clean” washable markers, construction paper, scissors, panda bear staplers, spiral notebooks, paper folders, composition books, adhesive tape, Elmers all-purpose gluesticks, Elmers glue (4 oz.), rulers, pink pearl erasers, two Texas Instruments TI-15 Explorer Elementary Calculators, neon-ruled index cards, tissues, handiwipes, band-aids and Neosporin.
“You have to buy this stuff for your kids?” I asked.
“Where have you been the last ten years?” replied the mother.
“I thought schools supplied kids with all that stuff.”
“Uh-huh, and dads make enough money so moms don’t have to work,” she said looking at me like I was 65 years old.
“Oh. . . . I guess it’s been a while,” I said. “Hope you all have a good first day.”
Actually in the Detroit school system I remember going to first grade with a cloth book bag with a little handle like a brief case that contained all our supplies that apparently we bought ourselves. Later in high school, we purchased our text books and I am older than you! It probably varied a lot –depending on the school system. Any way the start of the school year brings up some OLD memories. Thanks for noticing. Love how you look around and really SEE.
You’re welcome, Charlotte. In high school, you had to pay for your textbooks?! We never had to.
If I remember correctly, the main reason my parents moved to Slippery Rock, PA was because its school system was outstanding. If that was indeed the case, I am grateful for the sacrifice that made in upending their household to move there.
RE: My looking around and really seeing. It’s a luxury one obtains when one has little paid work. Would I prefer to see less and make more money? The answer to that is a real toss-up.
Aw, your picture is just adorable. You look the same, Sharie.
Thanks, Kelly. I miss the barrettes.
And that’s probably the only time my mother got me into anything with lace on it.
Am I guessing right that you took in all those details in those Target bags in just seconds? You may have been somewhere else the last 10 years when it comes to what school life is like for kids these days, but you sure haven’t lost your ability to take in ALL the details of a scene in a very short period of time. I’m guessing this because I can’t imagine you had a notepad and pencil with you to slowly write down each item that you saw. You are still pretty amazing!
You look happy in your first kindergarten picture, but it’s interesting. Not sure which is your house and which is the school, but one building is black, and the other has no door. Hmmmm.
Yes, Carol, I took all those Target bag details in seconds because I recorded what I saw into my iPhone voice recorder as soon as I walked away from the parents. I’m good with details, but not THAT good.
Adrienne shared an insight similar to yours about the black building in my first kindergarten paper. I hadn’t noticed that and neither had I noticed that there was no door on the other house. Adrienne noted another detail — all to say, your perspectives most likely have prompted another post. Stay tuned.
By the way, thank you for paying attention to the details in my life.
I love the picture of you, Sharie. You are a cutie pie. I also think it is really nice that Mom kept your first kindergarten paper and dated it as well. What a nice memento to have. Now, I want to go back through my memory box to see what Mom saved for me. I have forgotten what she saved, but I know there are a few things from school and from Sunday school. Your picture and your drawing made this post very special. xoxo
In our district they have copies of the school supply lists by grade available at the office supply stores. It’s big business and includes things like sanitary supplies for the classroom: Kleenex and hand sanitizer. No toilet paper on the list yet, but soon they may ask you to bring a case of that, too!
Hmmm … I left a reply to this last week, but it must have been swallowed in cyberspace!
Besides the things listed here, we also had to provide a box of Kleenex and hand sanitizer (and that was 20 years ago.) Now maybe they are asking them to bring toilet paper, too!
Forgive me, Beth. The first time you posted this comment, the notification email came while I was on my daily walk . . . and I forgot to approve it. So sorry. But now I have approved BOTH comments, mostly because I like to see your name and your words on the blog even when they are somewhat repeated.
(By the way, thank you for reminding me that I need T.P.)