After I registered the children for school in our new town, I received the school supply lists.

7th Grade Supply List
One gallon size zip-lock bag Tissues for personal use Index cards
Paper – lined, notebook Blue, black, and red pens Dividers
TI84 graphing calculator (recommended) Colored pencils Highlighters
Rulers – dual (metric and customary) Number 2 pencils with erasers Three-hole punch
Three-ring binder (1) Pencil case Glue sticks Scissors, student type Graph paper Sheet protectors
Dry erase markers Protractor Compass Folders with brads and pockets (5) Pocket dictionary Pencil sharpener
Post-it notes Tape Stretchy book covers (jumbo)

Supply items may need to be replenished throughout the school year. There may be a few additional individual class needs that will be addressed the first week of school.

First Grade Supply List
1 spiral notebook:5 Star brand 1 hardcover composition book 1 large pencil box 1 box of 8 markers 2 pairs of scissors 2 packs of 24 pencils
6 black dry erase markers 1 pair of child-size black socks 8 large glue sticks 2 highlighters 2 large pink erasers 2 boxes of tissues
1 package of twistable crayons 1 bottle of hand sanitizer 1 package of wipes 1 box of gallon-size Ziploc bags 1 box of quart-size Ziploc bags
ART SUPPLIES – 1 smock/art shirt, 1 spiral or marble notebook, #2 pencils
MUSIC SUPPLIES – 1 folder with pockets and brads/fasteners, any color

These are the school supply lists for my two children. This was a shocker for me. My daughter had gone to a daycare with a kindergarten program so the only things I ever brought in were used paper towel rolls, egg cartons and the containers for clorox wipes.

My son’s school basically required 5 spiral notebooks, 5 folders, and some pencils with erasers. The school supplied everything else.

I have to wonder about all this. I can understand requiring pens, pencils, notebooks (not why I have to get a particular BRAND of notebook), erasers, a box to put these things in, paper, etc. These all seem like normal schools supplies.

But why do I need to bring in tissues, boxes of ziploc bags, wipes, and hand sanitizer. I also do not want my kids to use hand sanitizer since it kills the good bacteria. If their hands are dirty, send them to a sink to wash them or give them a wipe.

What’s scary is that even with all of this, teachers are still spending out of pocket to buy supplies, which is pretty sad.

I also have to ask: How complicated has 7th grade math become that the children need a $100 calculator? Granted I was really bad at math, but I got through high school and a semester of college math and never used a calculator.

I’ve also heard that on the 1st day, you get a list of “requested” supplies from the teacher, and my sweet guy’s list actually hints at that. However, I will be batshit if this is true. How much more crap do I need to get?

We live in a not cheap neighbor hood and pay not low taxes and yet I am being asked to supply tissues and wipes. What’s next, will I asked to bring in toilet paper and paper towels. And of course, since school has not actually started I have not gotten the fundraising catalogs yet.

Since this is new for me, I have to ask, is this typical? Is this a small list and I should be grateful, or is this alot.

However, no matter how crazy the list, I still love this commercial.