180 days as a teacher

Well, my son starts grade 4 tomorrow morning. Let's not get carried away - the first 2 days are only half days. But as I now know, the teachers still work ALL day. And sometimes night...
Tonight is the dreaded "Back to school night" which is invariable, year after year, the night right before school starts up. Why, why, why do we always do it this way?

When he walked home on June 23rd, over 2 months ago, a whole summer ago, he brought home his SCHOOL SUPPLY LIST for grade 4.
Why didn't I just bite the bullet and take the list on June 24th to the nearest store to get all this stuff and not think about it anymore? Well, for starters the stores are all closed on the 24th since it's a national holiday here... and by the time the 25th rolled around, I had forgotten all about it.

And so I carefully stuck in a drawer on the 23rd when he got home, to keep it safe from the girls who are getting just a little too good with scissors...

Then later, I rationalized that waiting until August to pull out the LIST would be SMART because school supplies usually go on sale at the beginning of August.

But at the beginning of August, I was busy getting this blog going, signing my school-year-life away, and, oh yeah, posting on my blog. Last week, while I was picking things out for ME to use at school (like red pens and a Winnie the Pooh folder - which I've had to fight to keep away from the girls), I picked up a few items I guessed a fourth grader may use.

Now tonight, we need to reconcile the LIST with what we have in house. And then, we have to write his name over and over, and over and over, because everything has to be labelled - or else it may self-destruct instantly when the first school bell rings.

I smell like gasoline (I did mow the lawn, ran out of gas, and poured some in the lawnmower, some one me), I need a shower, and then just so that my first day off is even more enjoyable, I have a dentist appointment...