Hodge Podge Back to school stress rant by June McInnes

All over the country children are going back to school, some mums and dad breath a sigh of relief and some don’t. Some, like me get stressed over the increasingly large lists that filter home or are at our local shops of school supplies that are needed for our children to function at school.

Whilst I understand that our children must be equipped properly or should I say adequately for lessons, I don’t really understand the need for specialised folders like Duo-Tangs , they are not always easy to get and fall apart within weeks, looking dog eared and scruffy.

What’s wrong with one strong full sized folder with separated tabs for the pages? One folder for everything, done, finished, never loose your Duo Tang for a certain subject again.

Why is it when I sent them in with boxes of tissues with their name on them, as requested by the school, that the teacher Immediately takes them away from my child and locks them in a cupboard and doles them out to every child in the class, when they are supposed to be for my child. I don’t mind sharing and neither do they but this is not how it’s supposed to go.

Calculators are another bug bear. Yes, I know that they have to have certain functions on them for some work but, wouldn’t it be better if there was a supply of them sold directly by the school? They could take a cut of the price and we wouldn’t have to scour the shops and garage sales to find that T whatever it is for that work. The children would have what they need and everything would be less stressful.

Put that together with finding the right back pack that everything will fit in, including lunch kit and voila, your child looks like they are ready to go on a backpacking holiday through Europe. Whatever happened to the KISS principle? (Keep it simple stupid).

We parents try our very best to provide the very best to our children at all times, we look far and wide when looking for school kit, search for bargains, and get the best we can with what we’ve got for our children, for in school and at home. However, in these tougher economic times, wouldn’t it be more prudent to relax these rules of having huge lists of equipment for school. Not everybody can afford it all. And it puts a strain on everyone’s pocket. Being seen to be lacking can be embarrassing for parents and children.

So please, let’s cut the stress and adopt the KISS principle.

Good luck in your assignment everyone.