Garrison,

Good comment about Wal-Mart. That reminds me. I think I’ll watch “Rain Man” again, this weekend.

Tim: I noted your comment about the use of red ink and, according to some contemporary child psychologists, its potential ill-effect on today’s youth—a link to the Mr. Rogers’ theory of entitlement, for which the impeccable model of decency and respect-for-self-and-others is best known. His crusade: “We’ve lost our capacity to care about others; each of us is special just because we are; and that there is hope for the future.”

For all the good he did, he probably failed to teach the realities of human nature, and what probably got lost in his self-esteem-building patter was the idea that being special comes also from working hard and placing high expectations on self.

I’m a young child psychologist who advocates the use of red ink. It’s up to the teacher, though, to be the adult–to recognize his specific course objectives and to use the red ink to specifically enforce those objectives, and to avoid overwhelming the student with ancillary corrections.

After reading all of the posts, it appears we’ve strayed from the topic! I as a single parent of two beautiful daughters in high school am committed in making it the best year possible. I as a parent will give my children every resource to enable them to become successful adults. I will be active in fund raising, I will shop clearance, I will look in second hand stores, I will clean out their closets and hand down to younger family members or donate them. I really don’t have a perference on ink colors when it comes to markings on my children’s homework. I will give my children something that high gas prices can not take away….my time. Sometimes I believe it may be the want of a parent who needs/wants their child to be popular, more than the child wants it. All I can be sure of is that my home has been the hang out this summer and I have loved every minute it. I have been and will continue to cut back on lots of things, but my children’s education will not be one of them!

We put three children through Catholic grade school,Catholic high school then college.We are retired now and have money of our own to spend plus our three have really great jobs.

I am a single mother with 3 school age children. I will not break my budget sending my children back to school. The key is to stop buying into the hype of the seasonal sales….back to school, labor day, halloween, etc. The beginning of the school year is a reccurring event depending on how old your children are. What is really the point digging further into debt for school clothes when kids should get what they need as they outgrow things. Sure it is fun for them to take tags off of new clothes in the morning, but if you have to sacrifice your sanity it is just not worth it. If children have what they need year-round, there is no reason to splurge just because they have to go back to school.

The real issue is these obscure objects on the supply lists that seem so totally unneccessary. 24 sharpened pencils? as if your child will use all 24 on the first day, let alone the whole school year. Its like you break your neck getting everything on the list only to find out they are dumped into a box as community supplies. How about that?

Back-to-school shopping is only what’s on the required items list from school. Clothes are not considered in that. I’m always shopping for clearance items, garage sales, Goodwill, etc. I don’t necessarily have a budget per se, but I will discourage her from buying fancier items that what is required…folders with pictures on them, etc when all that is required is pockets and things to add punched paper. She doesn’t get a new backpack every year becuase I bought one from LL bean when she was in kindy that is still holding up going into 5th grade. I paid more once rather than spending more often.

Jeans are $4 at Goodwill and I’ve had good luck finding her size. Marshall’s has good prices as well. DD doesn’t care as much about the names as she does the style. Unless she goes through a growth spurt, she doesn’t get many new clothes.

I also shop ahead, i.e., I have extra school supplies and if I find a really good bargain in clothing, but a size too big, I’ll still buy for her to grow into.

Well, my oldest son is starting Kindergarten this year and I did not approve of all of the items listed on his school supply list, like a box of Kleenex and Anti-bacterial wipes, for example. I will be buying each item for him, but I didn’t realize children had to provide that type of supply for school.

I heard about the tax holiday, and I saw that apparently Missouri is giving us a holiday, the St. Louis County is giving us a holiday, but we’re still missing out on about half of our sales tax from each city to receive a full tax-free holiday for school supplies. Many cities in the St. Louis area have “opted out” of the holiday. I feel let down right now as a new parent sending my children to St. Louis County public schools.

I have a 7 yr old that attends a school that requires khaki-style pants and polo shirts. I dropped about 200 this year for 6 trousers, 6 shirts, a backpack and the usual supplies, notebooks, pencils, glue, erasers, folders. Shoes, socks and underwear were covered over the summer. I would be highly amused if his school requested a name brand.