[AmyAnne]

I have a theory. I think my son's school has hidden cameras in all the local stores. The footage from these cameras is broadcast to a TV in the Teacher's Lounge. I think they then purposely put an item that nobody carries on the back to school list and then they sit in the teachers lounge and watch the parents try to find said item and laugh at us.

A ZIPPERED ART BOX. Not a pencil case. An ART BOX. With a zipper. I went to eleven stores today and nobody's got it. I am telling Austin he either needs to ask his teacher where they are available or he will need to make do with what we already have.

Last year it was an erasable red pen and a 6 inch ruler.

[marythemom]

This year it was wide ruled spiral notebooks with 100 pages. I found tons with 70 pages, a few 3 subject notebooks with closer to 300...
Also glue sticks size .88. Found tons bigger and tons smaller.
And 40 pencil top erasers. They had 25 count and 100 count - no forty!

Still want to know why my fourth grade son's supply list was significantly longer than any of the other grades in his whole school.

[Original Mike]

I have been turning the tri-county are upside down in search of the required type of gym clothes. Our school sells the shirts, but for shorts R must have solid colored athletic shorts in either green, black, or yellow. How many boys own a pair of yellow shorts??????

Added to this is R's size. He is 13, yet only wears a boys 12. We have hit the big box stores and the sporting goods stores and have found one pair of shorts. Plus, here the stores are busy putting out winter clothes so all shorts are becoming scarce.

Why can't the school just sell shorts AND shirts???

[missw005]

J's list was 14 things long!!! And some of those were multiples - 3 boxes of graham crackers, 2 containers of cleaning wipes, etc.

He's only in 3rd grade!!!!!!!

My hard-to-find thing was a hard-sided composition notebook - I think like a journaling kind? Naturally, I didn't get my butt in gear to pack his backpack until the night before school started - and this was the ONE thing I did not have. Of course, when I went to various stores to look for it the next day, everybody was OUT!!!! Luckily I mentioned it to another mom, and she had an extra.

It is ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I brought some notebooks and some pencils when I went to school - true, it was the 70s, but still - it's !

Sandy

PS - J's list was NOT the longest. The 4th graders had 17 things on their list!!!

[chickymum]

You guys are making me laugh!!!

[momraine]

For me last year it was plastic folders with brads. Each kid needed two of every color. Last year I could not find them anywhere. This year, right after school was out a wal mart in another town I was passing through had some, so I got them in every color. Of course for high school and junior high here, they don't give you a list ahead of time, instead each teacher gives out a list on the first day. So you have like 8 lists per kid. All the teachers wanted it by the next day! Also this year for fourth grade, they did not have the list out until only a couple weeks before school. I knew that by then stores would be out of stuff, so I went by the year befores fourth grade list. Ha, this years was totally different. My daughter had so been looking forward to using her Hannah montana binder (I had to go online to find a zipper one) and deviders then this years list said "no binders". Arg.

[lucyjoy]

My kids school still has last years supply list and schedule up. I did get a copy of the current list when I asked his teacher for it during my before school meeting.

[Joy2566]

My issue with the lists is that there are always items on them that the kids never use. Last year my 5th graders had crayons and colored pencils on the list and they never even opened to box of crayons. They had to get compasses, their math book didn't have any work with a compass. So this year I bought the things I think they will actually use. Of course I had the unopened box of crayons and compass from last year so that did get put in their box. I wonder if they will use them this year.

Mike, for the shorts have you been to a sporting goods store? I found yellow shorts at Dick's for my kiddo. We also had to have black and green, found those at Dunham's Sports. Not only did they have to be a certain color, but they had to be knee length.

[SuzBerg]

I remember one year looking for "Manila" paper - not Manila Envelopes but paper. I had NEVER heard of it (and I consider myself a fairly intelligent person). Not only Manila Paper but a specific size (11 x17 I think) and a specific quanity (50 sheets). I looked everywhere Walmart, Target, Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, you get the idea. Finally a neighbor said to try Hobby-Lobby (arts & crafts store), of course they DID carry it but were sold out!

That was for my now 8th grader when he was in kinder and I still get nightmares thinking about trying to find it!

[Original Mike]

Joy:

I got the same advice from a friend last night to hit Dick's and Dunhams.

Looks like that's the source we need to hit. Thanks

[aspenhall]

That's funny, our school list says, here's what we need help getting, but whatever you can do will be fine, don't feel like you have to get everything on the list.

Things like tissues, hand sanitizer, pencils, glue sticks, dry erase markers...

Mainly our school desperately needs parents for help during centers. Our school buget doesn't cover aides....

[crick]

Amy - you gave your effort and now you can simply get a zipper pencil pouch bag and with a sharpie, simply write "ART BAG". There. Done!

My "impossible" item this were was "Wikki Sticks" for my 6th grader. I finally found them at Hobby Lobby after the 2nd try (they were out the first time). If I hadn't found them though, I was just going to email the teacher and let her know a good old highlighter pen works just fine for my kid.

[AmyAnne]

What in the heck are Wikki Sticks?

[crick]

craft sticks made of yarn and dipped into a wax so they are bendable. They use them in reading/writing to "underline" things or make diagrams on the board with. Things you can highlight...

I know...I know!

[momraine]

We used to give them to kids to play with in church. LOL That's the only way I had heard of them. (little bags for preschool kids with crayons and pictures that went with the sermon and sometimes other things like the wiki sticks and pipe cleaners)