kids

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial

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We are now 10 days out from Halloween!  It is one of our favorite times of year with all of the fall festivals, trunk or treats, zombie walks (and runs) and of course the big one, trick or treating on Halloween. My boys may be too big for trick or treating on Halloween but they still dress up. This weekend they will be zombies and they plan to dress up like zombies again on Halloween to hand out candy.  To get ready I have been perfecting my zombie makeup skills.

Last year was my first time creating a zombie kid. I searched Pinterest found a tutorial and thought I was all set to go. I found a pin-fail though and had to scramble to figure out how I was going to pull things off. With some quick thinking I came up with a pretty easy zombie look for my son and today i’m sharing my Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial with all of you!

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

To create a zombie look it takes a few things you probably have laying around your house. Tissues, school glue, paint brushes, a little makeup and then for some scary fake blood.

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

Step 1: Start with a clean face. Isn’t he handsome!

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

Step 2: Take your tissues and separate in the layers. Cheap 2 ply tissues work best for this. If you can find plain unpatterned toilet paper it will work in a pinch but all of the toilet paper I found had some sort of design imprinted into it.

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

Step 3: Tear of pieces of tissue and apply to the face using washable Elmer’s Glue. I use a cheap paintbrush to apply the glue.Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

 

I also like to lightly glue over the tissue. I chose to use Elmer’s Glue because as a kid I use to put glue on my hand and then peel it off. It was like peeling dead skin.  That’s the look we are going for so it is perfect!

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

A big thing to remember about applying the tissue is it does not need to be perfect! You can also “play” with the tissue creating holes for bullet holes and scratches. Make weird faces and let the wrinkles come out. The more imperfect looking the better.

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

Step 4: Let the tissue dry to your face. If desired to speed up things use a blow dryer on the low and cool settings.

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

Step 5: Now it’s time to get creative! It is time for makeup! Once the tissue is dry we want to turn the tissue into something that is flesh toned. I like to use a lighter color than our skin tone. Use pressed powder and a make up brush and evenly go over the face making sure that the tissue is evenly colored.

 Now it’s time to get creative. Using black eyeliner and black/gray/white eyeshadow (use matte unless you want a sparkly zombie) and start shading and coloring in features on the face. I like to use eyeliner to fill in and outline scars and wounds. I use the eyeshadow on the eyes to darken them. I also darken the lips. I prefer this over typical halloween make up. It’s also easier to wash off!

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

Step 6: Set your make up! If you want to give your look staying power add Colorless Setting powder. You can find it with halloween make up for less than $5.

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

Step 7: Add fake blood and voila you have a zombie! I wait until we are ready to leave to add the fake blood to prevent smears. I also like to apply it with a paint brush and let it drip a little.

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

The whole look doesn’t really take that long to do which is great so we can put our favorite Hershey’s candy in the bowl and head out the door. Seriously, you have to have Reese’s cups on Halloween!

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

Hershey’s make picking up Halloween candy easy. All I had to do was go to Walmart and grab a couple variety bags and go.

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

 

My usual Halloween candy buying involves debating how many bags to buy.  I always worry, will I buy enough or will I have candy leftover? Then there is the what all should buy? I always buy Reese’s but what about kids that don’t like them (is that even possible?) or cannot eat them. I always have to make sure I buy a large variety. The Hershey variety bags all have a good mix of chocolate and some with non-chocolate candy allowing a little something for everybody plus they are the perfect size!  I have a bag for this weekend and another for Halloween for my boys to hand out. I am all set and ready. Their large bags have made this Halloween easy for me. I have plenty of Reese’s for parents to take as payment for taking their kid’s out, then some Kit-Kat’s,Twizzlers and Jolly Rancher lollipops too!

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

I think we are ready. Is it Halloween yet?

Easy Zombie Makeup Tutorial | Country Girl Gourmet

What are you dressing up as for Halloween? What is your favorite Halloween candy? Don’t forget to check out Walmart for all of your Hershey favorites!

Adventures in Homeschool

Today is my kiddos last day of school. We are saying see ya later to 2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th grade. Yes, I have the trifecta of kids in elementary, middle and high school  and next year one of my monsters will be “homeschooled”.  Homeschooling is not a decision we took lightly. There are so many factors to consider before deciding to homeschool, the largest being is this in the best interest of my child.

Adventures in Homeschool | Country Girl Gourmet

In our case we live in a smaller county in North Carolina and I have a child with special needs. My second son has Autism and since he was 3 year old he has gone to school. In fact he even started out in the country where we currently live. Back then though I was new to the world of Autism. I didn’t have anyone helping me figure things out, in fact Autism was often considered a gray area. I have learned a lot since my son’s diagnosis 10 years ago. I have learned to advocate for my child. Simply if I did not do it, who would?

I can be thankful for being a military family because it has allowed me to see how other school districts in different states work with special needs children. My son went from what I now call a glorified daycare program here in North Carolina to an intensive pre-k in New Jersey. He went from receiving only Speech therapy to Speech, OT and PT multiple times a week. They used ABA in the classroom, Had tons of aides and my son even had his own one on one in kindergarten. My son flourished during his 3 years in New Jersey. His Early Intervention Services there went above and beyond.

From there we moved to Texas. Our transition was tough. It took almost his entire 2nd grade year to update his IEP to a Texas one. I won’t lie, I was pretty frustrated during the process but it pushed me to further research IEP’s and state and federal laws. I ended up becoming pretty good with IEP 101.  Once in 3rd grade though his school system had started a program for high functioning kids and by the time we left after he graduated 5th grade we were sad to go. My son was flourishing and doing extremely well in school.

As if transitioning to middle school wasn’t enough the Army sent my husband back to North Carolina in 2013. We researched schools and narrowed down the area we looked for houses. It was harder to find a house than we thought but eventually found our perfect house. We were also back in the school district my older two started school in. Easy peasy right? Wrong. Very, sadly wrong.

We tried, we gave it a good honest try but things just did not work out. I had already planned on 6th grade being a possibly bumpy year but had hoped for better things in seventh grade. What I found were teachers and administrators who were unknowledgeable about Autism and the fact that there is not a one size fits all formula that covers all children with Autism. I dealt with teachers who did not follow my son’s IEP and BIP. My son was even suspended after he had a meltdown caused by a teacher and his failure to follow my son’s BIP. That teacher has yet to say anything to me about that incident and didn’t even go to my son’s IEP/BIP mandatory meeting that was held because of the suspension. That speaks volumes to me. This entire incident was the straw that broke the camels back. This is what brought us to the world of homeschool.

We now had the fact that teachers and administration all agreed that my son would benefit from an one on one aide. Something I had previously requested and was told that there was no funding for. Yes, they really said that. So they were going to work on getting my son a one on one aide. This was back in March and he never received a one on one aide and we never met again to discuss getting my son one outside of one phone call.

The one phone call came from the principal. She was excitedly telling me about this great new program that the Army offers called ABA. Since my son was a military child he could get a one on one tutor with that program. All I could do was shake my head and then explain to the principal who is a military spouse herself what the program actually was an ECHO benefit and what ABA therapy is and how it wasn’t anything new. I also told her I was not going to be using my child’s medical benefits that he may need outside of school for something the school should be providing especially since they agree he needed it. Back to the drawing board she went and the topic was never discussed again.

When the final straw was broken my husband and I decided to homeschool our son. We had both looked into the possibility but it had always been just that. An option lingering in the back of our heads if things did not improve. We knew there was an online public school and as if it were fate it was the last week to sign up for the lottery. I signed my son up just so we had that option and to our surprise my son was selected. I rushed and did all the necessary paperwork to enroll my son. We had our plan. The program, NC Virtual Academy, had the same requirements as any other state public school. Our son had a regular school calendar, he would have to log attendance, school days were 6 hours, there would be structure built in, he would have a teacher and I would only be his learning coach, he would keep his IEP oh and he will do this all at home on the computer. A place where he never had the behavior problems or any of the other issues he had at his middle school. It sounded like a win-win for him.

I waited somewhat optimistically for an update about that one on one aide but it never came. I finally told his special education teacher the other day that he would not be back the next year and he would be attending the virtual academy. The next day at his award ceremony she agreed it would be good for him and understood we need to do what is in his best interest. She also reached out and offered to her help if we need it. She was in tears. You see once you learn my son’s “quirks” he is one of those kids you fall in love with.

Today I disenrolled him from school. It was easier than I thought it would be. They had me prove he was enrolled in the NC Virtual Academy which made me wonder what do parents who traditionally homeschool do? As I was leaving his special education teacher saw me and gave me a good bye hug. I told her I would still be around. I had a 6th grader that would be there next year. Yes, I’m trusting them with my youngest son, well for now.We will see how 6th grade goes. My oldest did ok so i’m trying to stay optimistic. The fault in the school is the lack of support for special needs students.

My reassuring moment was when I was leaving I walked past the principals. Typically someone says something about my son, or has a story, something. There is almost always a something. I was thinking maybe they would say something about that one on one aide but no. So I told the principal of the school my son would not be back and received a rather unconcerned reaction, I was kind of surprised. This was the same principal who called me a couple months prior that was working to get my son that one on one aide. Wow, I didn’t think this was going to be that easy but ok, thanks for making this easy. I knew in that instant I had made the right decision for my child.

So here we go onto our newest adventure, homeschooling. It’s an adventure I never really thought we would take on but I guess, never say never! Here’s to 8th grade and a smooth transition to the homeschooling world!

Autism and My Family: Part 2

I’ve started this more times that I can remember. I really don’t blog about my kids. I don’t blog about my tweens and teens because they are teens and tweens. Who knows where a blog post I write may land one day. Honestly who cares if their friends and classmates find out that their friend has a mom that blogs but rather i’m concerned with their future. Future colleges, employers and who knows what. There is something that keeps nagging at me and I feel I need to continue on a story that I first blogged about in 2009 on health.mil. My families story about our life with autism. My original blog on health.mil is now gone but you can read it HERE. Six years have past but Autism is still a huge part of our life.

AUTISM and MY FAMILY: Part 2

My son is now 12  and will be 13 in a few days…he is in middle school. It is an interesting life. His childhood is remarkably different than that of his siblings. He could use help in the areas of OT and PT still but he does not qualify for those services in school but yet they will comment about his handwriting or his participation in PE. The best was the language arts teacher who wanted me to teach him how to write cursive. To combat his handwriting he uses an iPad in school. When we moved from Texas to North Carolina his new school took him out of Speech. While he has progressed by leaps and bounds his articulation is not perfect and forget it when he gets upset. These things are now a story of finding places that will see him with our insurance and waiting because they have waiting list. Waiting lists for after school appointments are long. Getting one of those appointments is like finding the golden ticket.  Social skills are not my son’s forte. He also no longer has social skills therapy in school, they simply do not offer it. I am left seeking out social skills therapy groups for teens which are non existent in this area. My son’s school has suggested I enroll him in this “new” Army program, ABA and  when they say that it makes me want to shake my head. The Army program is ECHO (which has been around since 2009) and one of the services provided is ABA therapy, a therapy my son did well with and no longer utilizes. Not because he doesn’t need ABA but he no longer needs it. It is a constant struggle getting schools to cover services. It is often a combination of understaffed and undertrained.  I’ve also learned the majority of services for children with Autism outside of school are focused on younger children. Teens and young adults are often sadly forgotten.

There are many differences in our life that are just not the same as those who do not have special needs children. One of the easiest things to see is me, at the bus stop with my middle schooler in the morning. Then there I am hanging out on my front porch sometimes for an hour in the afternoon waiting for his bus to come home. My son is not allowed off the bus without an adult present. Want to know what happens if someone isn’t out there? We get a phone call, a where are you phone call from the school. It’s fun,trust me…not really. Like, we knew the bus was going to be early. Give a parent a break. For my son there are no invitations to birthday parties, no kids coming over to our house to hang out with him and no one inviting him over either. When you have problems with social skills, friends don’t come easy. It is a sad truth. On the other side there are mean, horrible kid’s out there, bullies. They pray on anyone who is different. Despite all the program’s in place in schools bullies still exist. All I can do there is make the school aware and drill into my son that he needs to tell someone when someone is mean or hurts him. Add into this stress for him the pressures of being in class from the lights, to the temperature, to the sounds, other classmates and adapting to changes in routine. Next add in teachers who do not completely understand special needs students and we have a recipe for disaster. While my son does not have behavior issues at home, they are present at school. He has been suspended because his Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) was not followed and he had a meltdown and he threw a pencil. The situation sadly could have been avoided. My son once liked going to school but since we moved to North Carolina those days are over. Homeschooling is something that keeps entering both my and my husband’s minds and my husband isn’t a huge fan of homeschooling. We have to think of what is in the best interest for our son though.

Over the years i’ve read all sorts of things about how to cure Autism. In my opinion there is not a cure. There are a variety of interventions that are helpful. Some people choose to change their families diets, others add probiotics and others seek out DAN doctors and follow their suggestions. Our family somewhat follows Feingold and we try to limit processed foods. While I am gluten free my son is not but that said he does not eat as much gluten as most other kids his age. Some people use medications to help symptoms while others stay far away from it. We do use medication and it has almost always worked for us. The only time it didn’t was when Target pharmacy accidentally over dosed my son on Prozac and he became manic. Yes, that was a scary time but we got through it, while my husband was deployed no less. Medication can be a risk and it is not a decision I take lightly. It took a few months of trying everything for my son’s anxiety and skin picking before I finally said ok to Prozac. My favorite intervention remains therapy and getting children into Early Intervention Services. While my son was 3 when he began services they helped him in ways that are completely immeasurable. I don’t want to think how our life would be now if he had never had any of his therapies. If there is one thing I have learned over the years what may work for one child with Autism may not work for the next. You just have to continue trying until you find what helps your child.

I am sure this is coming across as whoa is me and i’m only touching the surface but trust me despite all the struggles and frustration and tears there is plenty of good. My son is smart, sweet, kind and funny in his own way. There is so much more to him than his Autism diagnosis his quirks and those pesky awkward social behaviors. It is my hope not for a cure for Autism but for acceptance. I wish for people to look past their diagnosis and to learn who they are. A person is not their diagnosis. Until the day that this happens I will continue to be there for my son, fighting and advocating for him.

Autism and My Family: Part 1

I originally wrote this for Health.mil in April of 2009. Autism Awareness Month is here and I just wanted to share again along with a follow up to what our life is like now.

Autism and my family: Part one

On April 7th, 2002, my family’s lives were changed forever. We had just had our second son, and our adventures with autism would soon begin. My second son was different from his older brother, but I wondered how different could brothers be? I knew enough that no two children were the same, but my mother’s intuition told me something just wasn’t right.

From the time my son was about a year old, I was constantly telling the doctors I was concerned about his development, but they wouldn’t do anything. The doctors kept telling me he’s ok, he is developmentally on track, and boys talk later than girls. I couldn’t I get a doctor to listen to my concerns. I was concerned about more than my son’s lack of speech. At two and a half he lacked speech, did not like being touched, was not affectionate, would not look you in the face, lined things up, had no fear, and wouldn’t respond to his name. It wasn’t until I changed my children’s primary care manager that I finally had someone listen to me and tell me that my son was different. Soon thereafter a pediatric neurologist diagnosed my son with pervasive developmental disorder (P.D.D.), or high functioning autism. My suspicions had been confirmed now and it was time to figure out how to help my little boy.

The one thing that has helped my son the most is therapy. He receives speech, occupational, physical and ABA therapy in school. He receives additional speech therapy outside of school. He would receive other services but in our area service providers are few and far between. At home we do a lot of repeating, constantly saying “use your words” and modeling. Practice makes perfect, right? With therapy my son has gone from being non-verbal to having fifty percent speech intelligibility at seven years old. His skill level is improving as well. He is developmentally at the same level as his five year old brother. It takes time but when you see your child doing or saying something new it is the best feeling in the world.

Routine is very important in our house. We have a schedule taped to the fridge and rules taped to the walls. If we need to break from the schedule without thoroughly explaining why in advance, meltdowns occur. Meltdowns are not fun, so if you can figure it how to avoid them, you do. My son gets anxious in crowded places and starts humming jingle bells, a song I really do not like anymore. He may even bust out with a funny dance too. He doesn’t play with other kids, only near them. He doesn’t understand the difference between doing something on purpose and what an accident is, no matter how many times we explain it to him. I can go on and on, the list seems endless. Things that are normal to me would puzzle most people.

My son, like other children with autism, has his “quirks,” and no two kids with autism are the same so what works for one child may not work for the next. As parents we learn what we can do to improve the quality of our child’s life. Above all we learn we are our child’s number one advocate, if we don’t fight for our children who will?

Curious about our life with Autism 6 years later? Read: Autism and our Family: Part Two.

It’s not easy being tall on Halloween

Halloween time is one again upon us. Time for our children to dress up and go trick or treating. A right of passage for any kid, a night they look forward too. After all when else are you allowed to go door to door asking strangers for candy? It is the time of the year social media sparks up in blogs about healthy candy alternatives, being mindful of children with special needs to age limits for trick or treating. Which brings me to my question, what about the children who are tall? With my own children I have learned it is not easy being tall on Halloween.

It's not easy being Tall on Halloween | Country Girl Gourmet

The picture above was taken in 2011 when my oldest was not yet 12 years old and well i’m 5’6″, my son next to him was 5 feet-ish tall. Alike his brother that year would wind up being his last year going trick or treating. He was 9 years old and in the 4th grade. The exact same age and height as his brother was the last time he went trick or treating. The same age (and height) as the cutie in the orange shirt is now. What happens at this age is when my kid’s go out trick or treating people skip over them when handing out candy. They will give to the siblings but not them. They are left standing waiting as the candy giver retreats back inside. They are in a costume, say Trick or Treat, they are polite, my kids are the kids that tell you thank you after given a treat. So what gives?

I honestly couldn’t figure it out. I trick or treated (in costume) with my friends until I was 13. I was dumbfounded until I started reading various postings on social media sites asking, “until what age should kids trick or treat?”  The majority were in agreement that kid’s should stop once they hit the age 13/14 or have started high school. People also said they go based on how big the kid looks. That is when the aha moment set in. No one has ever accurately guessed the age of one of my children. My husband is well over 6 foot tall and people keep telling me that I am tall for a woman. We have tall kids, plain and simple. At the kindergarten concert you see that super tall kid that is a head above all their classmates and has to look down at them. That is my kid. All 4 of my kids to be exact.

tallkiddo
As a parent I am going to ask those of you participating in halloween treat giving this year to rethink your methods for handing out candy. Please think about the tall kids and their parents who have to explain why you didn’t give them a piece of candy but gave to their siblings. Let them experience this rite of passage like their friends. They are still kids, just a little bit taller than other kids their age.  It’s not easy being a tall kid, please don’t give another reason why.

It's not easy being Tall on Halloween | Country Girl Gourmet

A letter to my son’s teacher… Autism and my son

Every year my son’s new teacher’s ask what they need to know about my son. If it were only as simple as telling you a couple things to ensure a good school year. This year as my son enters middle school it scares me greatly. This year he has 7 different teachers that will need to learn to work together to figure out his educational needs. These are the years where he may fall through the cracks or may be be labeled as a problem child. Please do your part to ensure this does not happen and I will help you as much as I can.

My son has Autism and once again as I say those words I am asked by you what do you need to know. Unfortunately it is not a simple answer and to understand my son you need to get to know him.  Just reading his IEP will not tell his entire story just as my telling you about him does not either. I can tell you about him all day long but there is nothing I can say will guarantee he will have a good day or will not have a bad day/ meltdown.

Yes, he is different. His brain just works in a different way than other kids. When working with my son you will be pushed to think out of the box. No two children with Autism are the same so just because you knew another student with Autism does not mean what you did with them will work for my son.

My son thrives on routine, structure and consistency. Routine calms my son and reduces anxiety and without it he has problems. If there is going to be a break in routine you need to prepare him for it if you can. If you can’t just try to help him through the change. An example of change my son is not good with is substitute teachers.  An alternative plan needs to be in place for my son when he has a substitute teacher. My son needs structure, he needs to know the rules. Please be consistent with my child because when you are not it gives him mixed signals and it is difficult for him to comprehend what he is suppose to do.

My son interprets  what he is told one way, literally. He does not get idioms and the like. When speaking to him please get his attention and speak to him with plain, simple words.

Social skills are not my son’s strong point. My son is not disrespecting you by not looking you in the eyes/face. He may not be looking at you but he is usually listening. To get your point across please ask my son to repeat what you have asked. My son may do other things that are not socially acceptable such as pick his nose. If you catch him doing something please redirect him, he will stop. We have been working on personal space, he needs clear boundaries as he may invade others personal space not realizing what he is doing is rude.

While on the subject of social skills my son will say what he thinks and does not have a “filter” and will express his opinion. He will say something is dumb or stupid. Just as he will call someone fat or tell them their breath stinks. Please understand he is not saying things to be mean,cruel or disrespectful.

My son’s speech is a work in progress, please understand this. Sometimes especially when he is excited or upset it will be hard to understand him. If you do not understand him ask him to repeat what he has said. Be warned though, too many repeats may equal a meltdown.

My son communicates but you need to do more than just listen. You will need to watch his body language for cues. When he is anxious he will do a variety of things such as run back and forth, hum songs, twirl his hair, pick at his skin or other things. My son may even growl or loudly sigh when he is not excited about doing something. Watch him and he will show you how he is doing.

Group work is not a strong point. If he can do assignments independently he will. He may need redirection from time to time but he does best work solo. This goes back to social skills and interacting with his peers.

Handwriting is not a favorite thing for my son to do. It is hard for him and he does not have a traditional writing grip. Give my son a iPad, computer, alphasmart or other word processor and he can do it. He also does awesome power point presentations.

Your classroom is full of things that may throw my son into sensory overload which may lead to a melt down. His classroom size is larger than what he is used to. A larger class often means more noise and this can overwhelm him. Pep rallies and similar grade level functions are a nightmare for my son. He would rather stay in the classroom and do classwork. Other things that may overwhelm his senses include your classroom temperature, lighting and smells. He tries his best but sometimes it becomes to much and he can’t focus.

When over simulated my son will need a “time out”. He will need to go somewhere quiet to “cool off”. When he is not allowed to do so he may shut down and a melt down could happen. He has attempted to run away from school before. Please do not allow him to get to this point.

My son is very bright and typically learns new subjects easily. He also relates everything back to Mario and Sonic and other video games. If you listen to him though it often makes sense as odd as it may sound. Don’t hate the video games it is just another way my son communicates and expresses himself.

Our family does not use the word can’t so please do not use it in regards to my son such as you “can’t teach my son”. You can teach my son but you may need to rethink your methods. Look at his strengths, you will find a way. He can be taught.

Last but not least the most important thing to remember when teaching my son is to be patient.

What I have written is only a starting point for you. I could go on and on writing about him, he is an awesome kid and if you allow yourself you will learn about his greatness. I invite you to look at things through his perspective and learn how things are not always black and white.

Back to School Supplies Woes

It is that time of year, Back to School! This year my kiddos had an extra long summer thanks to our cross country move and are ready to go back to school. I wonder how long that is going to last.

With back to school comes school supplies and that is where my gripe is. I have no problem buying school supplies for my 4 children at all. I have no problem sending in extra stuff that teachers may need. I have no problem helping out friends of my kids. What I do have a problem with is how ridiculous some school supply lists have become.

I know teachers are underpaid. Once upon a time I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. I still think I do, low pay and all. I know teachers pay for a lot of things out of pocket from classroom supplies to lunch for students here and there.  Guess what though this is true of other professions as well like my husband’s.  Yes, the Army doesn’t supply everything a soldier needs to train or deploy. I won’t even begin with some of the ridiculous things you would think his employer would provide but couldn’t because of budget constraints.

I can only guess that maybe these long school supply lists are due to budget cuts but i’m not sure. My children’s school district in El Paso put a budget cap on how much in supplies that they could request. Now that i’m in North Carolina there are no such caps and despite spreading out my shopping and price matching I am going broke shopping for supplies. My daughter’s list is the worst. Seriously 16 glue sticks, 4 packs of computer paper, 4 boxes of tissues, 8 tennis balls etc.  I can only guess those tennis balls are to put on the chair legs which in my opinion is not a necessity. It is a nice to have not a need to have. I can understand my son’s needing scientific calculators and even thumb drives. But tennis balls, clothespins, 4 boxes of tissues each child. What happened to one box per child and if more were needed asking for more? Doing something common sense like that is not only much easier on parent’s budgets but it saves room in your classroom. Seriously where are you going to store 4 boxes per student in your class and the paper towels, computer paper. Please don’t tell me this is done because it is communal supplies because some kids cannot afford school supplies. What is going to happen when one day parents have had enough and say no i’m not buying it.

I think some teachers have forgotten about who the parents of the children they teach are. They are people just like them doing their best to get by and do the best for their children too.  Most of us are not rich with unlimited resources. We don’t have someone helping us out. Yes, we know school supplies are needed every year but we don’t know what is going to be on that list typically until a month or so before school starts. It doesn’t help that so many items on school supply lists today are not actually school supplies. So you can only stock up so much in advance and then try to spread it out so it is not such a financial shock.

So I am going to ask the teachers out there please carefully review your school supply lists. Make sure things are classroom needs and not things that are wants because they would be nice to have. Maybe try out a classroom wish list for all of those things that are the nice to have’s like tennis balls for the chairs. The parents of your students would be thankful just like their wallets would be.

IMG_3610Part of my kiddos school supplies