The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Here in my part of NY school starts Sept. 5th. School supply shopping is the one thing I actually complete before the appointed date, because there’s no way I’m going to be caught dead in Staples standing on a check-out line a mile long, after having spent an hour circling the parking lot for the privilege of fighting over the last Hello Kitty notebook. No way!

In Laura's high school, teachers are much less fussy about the kids' supplies, and leave it to the students what they want to use, but this year there are a few things I’m insisting that Laura have, based on knowledge of her work habits. Harry Potter had his Goblet of Fire, but Laura will have her Dreaded 10th Grade Homework Forgetting and Meltdown. The extra supplies I’ve purchased include lots of post-it notes, glue sticks, and a super-duper superior staple gun.

Laura’s homework forgetting can be broken down as follows:

a. She forgets that she has homework in any given subject or subjects.
b. She remembers that she has homework, but forgets the assignments.
c. She remembers that she has homework, remembers the assignments, but forgets the books she needs to complete the assignments.
d. a & b
e. b & c
f. a & c
g. ALL OF THE ABOVE

I intend to help Laura solve the homework dilemma in the following manner. I am listing the pros and cons of each method to show how thoroughly I’ve thought this through.

Post-it notes
Upside
Can write assignments on notes and stick to forehead
Downside
Not very sticky, liable to fall off forehead before she gets home

Glue stick
Upside
Can glue post-its to forehead to make them stick better
Downside
Ouch factor and could still fall off greasy teenaged forehead.

Staple gun
Upside
Stapled post-its won’t fall off forehead
Downside
Plastic surgery

Here’s hoping there’s very little stress in the coming school year. Hoping, and yes, praying. Good luck to us all.