I’m sitting in the living room writing this entry. Strewn into three rough piles across the living room are the school supplies we got today for the kids.

On the one hand, it’s amazing and probably a sign of how much better organized we are that we’re done doing school supply shopping at the beginning of August instead of the weekend before school starts. On the other hand, it’s amazing to see how much the supply lists change from year to year as the kids age.

Patrick has very little this year, but that may change as the year goes on. But he’s the high school student, and he’s got a binder, mechanical pencils, a couple of spiral notebooks, and a flash drive.

The girls this year have no sign of crayons. They’ve each got a scientific calculator for the next few years of math. They’ve got more filler paper than a person should every need, a bunch of spiral notebooks, a huge 3-inch binder, a box of 60 pencils, folders, erasers, colored pencils, highlighters, and a pen specifically designated for correcting school work.

Oh, there’s more, but I am kind of wondering whether this preparedness on our part comes at a cost: I mean, where are we going to stash this stuff for a month until school starts?

I think it dawned on them, especially the girls, that the school year is approaching pretty quickly. I remember being in their shoes at this time of year. My birthday would come, we’d have a party, and then shortly after that, I’d find myself at a store with mom trying on jeans and corduroy pants and maybe a sweater or two.

I don’t know why I don’t remember shopping for supplies. I just remember shopping for fall and winter school clothes during the hottest part of the summer. And I hated it. Not because I didn’t want to go back to school–I always was excited for school to come, while still mourning the loss of the summer–but because trying on clothes has always bothered me.

The girls are excited about their new school this fall in part because there is no uniform policy at FAIR Crystal. They’ve lived with the uniforms for six years at IDDS/FAIR Downtown, and I know they really hated it, mostly because I don’t think they’d wear a polo shirt by choice…Or maybe the uniform has sworn them off of polo shirts because they were a requirement. Because of this, I’m kind of excited to see what their school pictures will look like this year, though the process to choose the outfits and hair style will be long and involved, I’m sure. But for the first time in a school picture, you’ll really be able to see their true style come out.

Just like you can see their true style by some of their choices for school supplies…Zoe’s pile is a mess of pink or purple items. Including her calculator.

See you tomorrow.