Here comes August!

I visibly cringe when I walk in Wal-Mart and see the school supply aisle filling up with a multitude of school supplies in early August. Fourteen different types of scissors. Pens and pencils of every description. Backpacks and folders with a myriad of pre-teen idols smiling back at you.

I don't cringe because I hate school. I cringe because I think of all the moms and dads who have to comb through the supplies and find that lefty pair of scissors in a particular brand that the teacher insists on or searching across town for the 5 subject notebook that every store is sold out of and not the 3 subject notebook they have plenty of.

I think of all the money spent on uniforms or the perfect new outfits to make an impression on that year's set of peers. The "in" shoes. And heaven help you if you wear the wrong thing on the first day. You are branded for the entire year. I don't miss this at all. I remember standing in line for hours (yes hours) at the uniform shop waiting for my son to be measured to order up a new uniform. It was insanity.

Homeschooling has many benefits. However, I would probably do it just to avoid this beginning of the year ritual. Yes, we do buy supplies. But only when we need them. I did grab a box of color pencils for the boys while I passed by the bin at Wal-Mart and I did get some pink erasers, loose leaf paper and pencils on sale when I was at Office Depot for something else. That was the extent of my pre-school shopping friends.

I ordered my curriculum in May and purchased some used from a homeschool friend. It is all sitting neatly in its packaging reading to burst forth in a new school year of fun and learning. I will order the Math curriculum for my sons online, but I'm in no hurry. I usually receive it in a few days after ordering. If we don't have everything on day one, it isn't the end of the world. I usually ease into the school year adding a new subject after a few days. We don't jump into everything at once. Learned that years ago.

We'll order our books from the library online about a week and a half before we want to begin our school year.

Chalk up another benefit to homeschooling. Saving mom from the mosh pit of school supply shopping.