It’s hard to believe that the leaves are already turning and falling to the grass that has been almost impossible to cut this year due to the constant wet weather. But regardless of the lack of summer sunshine one thing is certain, summer is all but over. For those of us with children, this means back to school shopping, getting back into routines and preparing in many other ways for the upcoming school year. It seems as children get older their enthusiasm for school lessens in some, but others look forward to getting back to the grind and seeing their friends, catching up on everyone’s summer experiences and tackling the new academic challenges. Many look forward to sports and arts, theatre and much more at a high school level and having diversity in our schools is essential in order to keep that alive. For the younger children, going to elementary school is usually a lot of fun, especially for the kindergarten and early grades. My oldest son is so excited to be going to what he calls “french emergency” this year, and my youngest is just as thrilled to be attending nursery school.
Whilst shopping for school clothes, lunch bags and other necessities I could not help but notice how much more affordable it is for the younger students, or should I say the parents of younger students.
Standing in line with our few pairs of pants, shirts and lunch boxes I couldn’t help but notice the lady in front of me. Her cart was full and with only a few clothes items, the rest was filled with books and binders, paper, pens, knapsacks, tupperware for lunches, computer equipment and much more. All of a sudden my half a basket seemed like I was getting off really easy. It also dawned on me that one might consider starting a special savings account just to afford having teenagers in school!
I also couldn’t help but think about how much times have changed since I was in school. To date myself, first and foremost, there were no computers…
The first computer came to our school in grade 10 and it was massive. The hard drive alone took up half the basement to power the 20 huge computers with tiny black and green screens. Laptops were not an option and to be honest, I don’t even remember having lunch bags and tupperware. I do remember saran wrapped sandwiches in brown paper bags.
Then there is the new issue of trendy clothes. When I was in school it was practicality over brand names and if I wanted special Nike shoes I had to find a way to pay for the extra cost myself.
That in turn meant cutting grass or having a paper route. The price of things like shoes back then were nowhere near what a pair of DC shoes costs today…
So as I sit here today and talk to the children about how exciting it is to start a new year, make new friends and learn new things I can’t help but wonder how much things will change in the next decade for my children. Not to mention, I think it’s time to start a new bank account to prepare for the teenage years….