SoMWaD: What a Mess: The Saga of the Dining Room Table;

September is here and school is starts in less than a week!  And this is what my dining room table looks like:

It's not pretty.  It hasn't been for months.  It's obvious that no one is dining in my dining room!

It started out with the backpack full of (dare I say it) crap from the last days of school.  I didn't have time to weed through it all as we were going away on a family vacation the next day.  Once we got back from there I had to whisk my son off to a week of camp.  Then there was the new job...and then...

Well I eventually DID clear of the dining room table...for the most part.  I left a few things that I thought he could "reuse" for the upcoming school year.  What a shocker!  School supplies that actually made it through more than one year???  Well, the locker shelf made it out alive; of course that was the 2nd locker shelf that we bought.  Other than that there were a few pens and highlighters that could be reused.  The most amazing of all was that the  5-Star Flex 5-Subject College Ruled Refillable Notebook by Mead which took me forever to find last year made it through relatively unscathed.  Yes, he will be using the same binder/notebook 2 years in a row!  (Fingers crossed that I haven't jinxed myself.)

But by the time I cleared off the table, it was time to purchase more school supplies.    Are you ready to see this year's spreadsheet?  (I take all of the teachers supply requests and put it into one big spreadsheet because that's the crazy kind of mother I am!) If not, close your eyes, cause here it is:

Class	Item
Math	one 3-subject notebook labeled Math (should have a strong pocket inside, or a two pocket folder to match)  (Yeah!  I'm reusing the one from last year!)
	Calculator: Texas Instruments TI-30X IIS  (Purchased last year and never used; let's see what happens this year)
	A package of whiteboard markers (Who knows what happened to last years)
	One pack of 3x5 index cards
	One XL book sock or cover for textbook same color as math notebook (On sale at the super market for a dollar!  Beat that!)
	Ruler (to be kept at home)  (We must have one somewhere)
	Protractor (to be kept at home) (Found one hidden in last year's pencil case...hence I saved another dollar by NOT buying another one)
Literacy	One 1 ½- 2-inch binder labeled Literacy: Please have the dividers separated and labeled: Fill each section with plenty of lined paper. Choose one color for literacy materials (Please make sure folder and binder are the same color) (Sucked it up and bought another  5-Star Flex 5-Subject College Ruled Refillable Notebook by Mead.  At a cost of nearly $10 it better make it through the year!)
	tab/dividers labeled: Conventions of Writing Literature/reading Vocabulary Writing Handouts(No wimpy paper dividers that rip less than a week into the school year!  Yes, I went for the $3 a pack plastic ones)
	Two folders for assorted literacy materials  (Same as the dividers.  Bought the heavy duty plastic ones that will go into the binder.  Why spend seventeen cents on paper when you can spend $2.49 on plastic???  Please last...please last...)
	One marble composition book  (Ok, I cheaped out here, even though composition books go for fifty cents.  I found one that he had barely used previously and tore out the pages that he had written on.  It's still good, right???)
	Two packs of 3x5 index card  (What is it with the index cards???)
	one soft index card holder (not a hard box)  (Which broke before I could even open it.  And then I couldn't find another one in any of the stores...Oh, the humanity.)
Social Studies	tabs/dividers labeled: Do Nows Notes Homework/Classwork Vocabulary (Time for more costly dividers...)
	e 1 ½- 2 inch binder labeled Social Studies: Please have the dividers separated and labeled: Fill each section with plenty of lined paper. Choose one color for social studies materials (Please make sure folder and binder are the same color)  (And yet another 5-Star Flex 5-Subject College Ruled Refillable Notebook by Mead)
	One two pocket folder with holes to be kept in binder  (And even more folders for $2.49 a piece!)
Science	One one inch Three Ring Binder with 3 divider (Do I have to say it?   5-Star Flex 5-Subject College Ruled Refillable Notebook by Mead!)
	Dividers (Of course...)
	One pack of Loose-leaf Paper (On sale cheap at the supemarket, only to be found at Staples for five cents less.)
	One pack of Graph Paper  (See above note)
	One Two Pocket Folder with holes - SAME color as the notebook (this needs to be kept attached to the binder)  (How many pocket folders have I bought now?)
	Two packs of 3x5 index cards with a soft index card holder (not a hard box). Labeled Science and your name (Index cards again????  Another soft index card holder?  What century are we in???)
	One 9 3/4 x 7 1/2 marbled notebook (Ok, I sucked it up and spent the fifty cents this time.)
French	A section in a 3-ring binder with available loose-leaf paper OR a separate notebook specifically for French class   (Ok, I went really cheap here.  He only has French every other day (incredibly confusing, but...) so I just went and got him el cheapo spiral notebook.  Sue me.)
	A separate take-home folder specifically for French class (I gave in and bought the cheap seventeen cent ones.  You KNOW I'm going to regret this.)
	3-4 pens/pencils (Because you have to "fresh" new pencils, or so my son says)
	2-3 red pens (Got a box last year.  I'm stocked with red pens for quite a while.)
	ear buds  (Seriously???)
	French-English dictionary (to keep at home) (I could find Spanish - English, but no French.  This was my 2nd year looking.  No luck.  Thank goodness I have a wonderful cousin who teaches French who provided me with one.  Now I owe her another bottle of wine!)
Homeroom and All	2 boxes of tissues (This is why I "steal" boxes of tissues whenever we stay at a hotel)
	locker shelf (So we had one from last year, but son says that this year he will have a full sized locker and needs another.  After we purchased we got the notice that not all students will have a full sized locker.  Are we taking bets?)
	Pencils (Covered)
	Colored pencils (What the heck happened to last years?  And I swore we had some in the house!  But of course not...so back to Staples again...)
	Skinny Crayola markers (How did I forget these?  One more trip to Staples)
	pens (Now, these we DO have around the house...do you suppose anyone's going to notice that they are promotional pens from various venues?)
	Highlighers (amazingly they did survive 5th grade...but will they survive 6th???)
	post its (No boring yellow for my son...various shades of blue/green)
	glue stick (You can't just buy one)
	Hole punch (one)  (Crap!  One more run to Staples!)
	white out tape (Unbelievably we actually had this)
	erasers (Was smart enough to buy these when they were on major sale at the pharmacy...bought two packs...will they make it to the winter holidays?)
	ruler (Ok...so I bought another one.)
	scissors (the same ones he's had for years...and thankfully never stabbed anyone with them...maybe I shouldn't have said that?)
	White board markers (The ones I got him for Math will have to do!)

So there you have it.  All supplies have been purchased and organized.  (That took a good hour or so.  I made my husband do it.  I ran to Staples too many times.  This was his "punishment.")  I "almost" have my dining room table back...

...at least until the afternoon of the first day of school.