Back to School Shopping

It's the last day of August and I know many kids are back in school already, but my kids still have 10 days of sleeping in (I wish!) and playing in the sunshine, which thankfully is sticking around. But school does eventually come and, along with it, the obligatory school supply shopping list. I still have fond memories of back-to-school shopping as a kid. Of course, when I was older it became all about the clothes, but as a kid, I loved picking out my notebooks and folders (remember PeeChees and Trapper Keepers?)

My kids and I headed out last week to buy supplies, but I was determined not to spend money rebuying things they already had so first we went on a search through their rooms and our craft drawers. We found scissors, markers, pencils, glue, rulers, and erasers. Sure, the markers aren't in the fancy box, but that box usually gets discarded or destroyed in the first few weeks of school anyway. As long as all the colors still work and the glue isn't dry, we are in good shape!

Here are a few tips that are helping us save money and reuse our existing resources. Any tips from your family to share?

* Grab the list of needed supplies and send your kids on a hunt through the house to see what they can find. Bonus: less junk in the house!
* If you end up buying extras (the 18 pack of #2 pencils when you only need 12 or the buy one/get one free notebooks) pass them on to a local child in need. Volunteers of America is running an Operation Backpack program in many cities, as are many local churches and schools.
* Find new uses for leftover items at the end of the year. In our house, 3-ring binders become storage for baseball cards, spiral notebooks with leftover pages become journals, broken crayons can be melted down to make candles.

* Don't forget the "comfort kits" either. I assume most schools do these now, but in case you aren't familiar with them, these are the "just in case we have an earthquake/snowstorm or some other emergency and your kid gets stuck at school for a while" kits. Athe end of the year, I pull out the too-small socks and snacks nearing their expiration date and save the space blanket, toothbrush, etc. The socks get passed along to a smaller friend and the snacks get taken along on a summer outing. This week I'll replenish the packs with new snacks, socks that fit, and a new family letter/picture.

Now for the real question, who is happiest about it being back-to-school time. Your kids or you??

When You Find a Wild Animal

Many of us our fortunate to live in areas where we are close to nature and wild animals, but that

Image via Wikipedia

close interaction can also be dangerous- not just for the humans, but the animals too.

I was reminded of it this week when I read of two grizzly bears who were killed in Montana. A mother and two young cubs in Glacier National Park were coming too close to humans and the decision was made to kill the mother. One of the cubs was accidentally killed as a result of the tranquilizer it was given. The other cub was shipped to the Bronx Zoo. If you can't be a grizzly bear in a national park, I'm not what your chances of survival are...

I don't expect to run into any grizzlies in my neighborhood, but we do visit the beaches of Puget Sound and have the potential to run into wildlife there. A recent article in our local paper highlighted the problems of human interaction with seals. Local ranger, Susan Morrow has started a volunteer program, the Edmonds Seal Sitting program, to protect the seals that end up on their shoreline. Mother seals sometimes leave their pups on the beach while they are out fishing. Unfortunately, some people who stumble across these seals get a little carried away with their good intentions, thinking these seals are abandoned or stuck. One recent interaction ended with the death of the seal after it had been transported to someone's bathtub. (How many of us have saltwater coming out of the tap???) Morrow is coordinating volunteers to "seal-sit" when the seals do end up on land. Their job is to post a sign that keeps other people from going near the seal and just to keep an eye on the animal from a distance. Pretty easy babysitting job, if you ask me!

Image by dan taylor via Flickr

I asked my own kids what they would do if they found a seal on the beach. One suggested putting it back in the water and the other thought they should call the zoo. Actually, the right answer is to just leave it alone and never to touch it.

The Seal Hotline (425-327-3336) is only for seals local to the Edmonds, WA area, but the same advice still applies to other animals and other locales. If you find a wild animal that appears to be abandoned, sick, or injured, please leave it alone and don't touch it. Get in touch with the local authorities to get the proper professional help. The US Forest Service would be a good place to start if you aren't aware of a more specific local organization.

Things We Can Do Without

The list of things we could do without is probably endless, but I started thinking about this when my writing buddies (and blog fans) Cheryl and Marelu gave me a Staple Free Stapler as a birthday gift the other day. I think they were really just hoping to give me an idea to get me writing again... Blogging in the summer with children turns out to be much harder than I had anticipated! First, it was just the typical chaos of summer and kids, then it was a trip to Alaska (which I definitely will blog about soon), now it's a broken elbow (my son, not me).

OK, enough excuses... Back to the stapler - it's a neat little device that basically cuts a small hole in the paper (up to 4 sheets) and then tucks it in the back to keep all the sheets together. Remember when you were in school and used to fold, rip, and fold the top corner when there wasn't a stapler around? It's kind of like that.

No, I don't think that staple free staplers are going to change the world, or that everyone should rush out and buy one, but it does make you think about all the "things" we have and don't need. I remember reading an article once about a family of three who was moving permanently onto a houseboat and had to sell 95% of their possessions. It was the kitchen appliances that really got me. They decided they only needed one knife. As I look at my knife block, I'm clearly several knives past "need" - steak knives, meat cleaver, paring knife, bread knife, and a few others that I can't even name.

In Seattle this week, the debate focused yet again on the paper/plastic bags. Residents voted on whether they should pay 20 cents for each bag (paper or plastic), in an effort to encourage people to bring their own reusable bags. The measure failed, but unfortunately I think that is more a statement on how influential out-of-state groups can be in a local election. The plastics industry is reported to have spent $1.3 million in the past few weeks trying to ensure that the measure didn't get passed for fear that it would become a model for other cities. I don't necessarily think we need government measures to tell us to bring our own bags, but I do think it would have had a drastic impact on the consumption of the bags. I'm curious to know if the whole Bring Your Own Bag campaign has already started to have an impact. Clearly the plastics industry is getting worried about something.

What things do you have that you don't need? Would getting rid of it have an impact - or maybe just reduce the clutter in your life? For me, I'll keep trying to remember to always bring my own bag--and I'll use my stapler. In the next few weeks, I will also get piles of outgrown toys and clothes out of the house to pass on to friends or our local clothing exchange. In terms of having an impact, I'll keep thinking before I buy that next unnecessary object. That's probably a good thought to keep in mind as we head out for back-to-school shopping.

An Impressive Garden

Yes, I wish the title, and picture, were referring to my own garden, but sadly, my garden didn't work out as I hoped. It turns out that my sneaking suspicion that my garden location didn't get enough sun was correct. Back in May, though, I wasn't willing to be deterred. My seeds had grown amazingly well in their little peat pots inside so I figured I just needed to nurture them to keep them growing outside. Sure, they were small, but summer is long. Right?

It all came to a crashing halt when I went to visit my mom's garden. I had seen what had been planted and was happy we would both have gardens this summer. Then two weeks passed and I visited again. Her corn was knee high (and it wasn't even close to the 4th of July), my boys each had their own pumpkins already picked out, her tomato plants were taller than me...

I faced facts and gave up on my garden. It really is all about location, location, location. Actually, it is more than that. My mom's garden seems to be amazingly successful because of location (great sun), soil (rich compost that was roto-tilled into the dirt), weather (26 days without rain in the Northwest ), water (because, of course, the plants do still need the water), and a lot of TLC. The corn plants are now twice my height, the tomato plants are so full I couldn't even get my arms around one of them, the pumpkins are already Halloween-sized, the peppers are beautiful (I always that the shine was wax - turns out it is natural), and the carrots are popping out of the ground.

I've given up being envious and am just enjoying my mom's success. I wanted my kids to have a garden this summer and now they have one. It wasn't in MY backyard like I had planned, but that's okay. I have squeezed a few peas and beans out of my own garden and my containers of tomatoes and basil are thriving. If my kids want to pick carrots and green peppers, they just have to go to Grandma and GrandDad's garden.

Oh, and back to the original goal... Do they eat more vegetables? Hmm... the jury is still out on that one. We did have a funny experience yesterday though. I had a bunch of freshly picked carrots that I left in the car for about another. When we returned to the car, my son's friend was the first to open the door and he said, "What's that smell?" Visions of a rotten apple under the seat popped into my head, but then my son hopped in and said, "It's carrots!" Now, I know my car has never smelled like carrots after a trip to the grocery store!

Boredom Busting Homemade Toys

Summer is in full swing and, while it seems that my kids have oodles of toys and activities to keep them busy, there are always those "I'm bored" moments lurking around the corner. Here are a few of our family's ideas for homemade toys. The best part is that half the fun is in making the toy. They take time, cost virtually nothing and use up some of the useless extras you have from around the house.

Rubberband Ball - This one I remember from when I was a child. Basically, it's a bouncy superball made out of paper and rubberbands. Crumple up a few pieces of paper and then start twisting rubber bands around the ball. Instant super bouncy ball - and a good way to recycle those rubber bands that come with my newspaper every day.

Mini-Land - This was inspired by the book and movie, The Tales of Despereaux. The boys built their own little mouse-lands in miniature. I gave them shoeboxes, let them raid the junk drawer, and off they went on creating their own little worlds. It may not look like it to you, but this house has a couch, a TV, artwork, toys, and an odd-looking purple inhabitant.


String - Last year on a long trip, I took along a few pieces of string and taught my boys the Cat's Cradle game. We were staying with some friends who knew all kinds of other tricks. This can literally occupy my 9-year-old for hours! Don't remember how to do Cat's Cradle or need some new figures? Check out this website. Here's a picture of a "mosquito" - perhaps appropriate for summer! This last one is a noisemaker toy that my son built at school. Every year their school brings in a toymaker named Rick Hartman who helps them saw, hammer, and glue their very own toys. It's fun to watch the kids marvel over their own creations. He can get kids to create amazing toys with very simple tools - spools, rulers, rubber bands, etc.

Hope one of these ideas helps pass a few hours of the late summer for your kids. What are your favorite summer boredom busters?