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Fredericksburg Parent & Family

Editor's Note: School's Back Already?

Aug 09, 2021 06:00AM ● By Chris Jones

OK, parents … by show of hands, how many of you felt like this year’s summer vacation was restful for the first time? Yes, our children were home with us running through every room imaginable, picking on one another, prolonging bedtimes (“Just 10 more minutes?”), and wiping out the pantry no sooner than we filled it, but didn’t it feel restful? Having a time when you didn’t have to pack a lunch, wash a mask or check to make sure Zoom was on a screen (and not Roblox!) was a pleasant change. It’s been like active recovery—the 30-minute jog between days of high-intensity workouts.

And here we are, staring down another school year like a rack of dumbbells. It’s time to do our reps again, ladies and gentlemen. As of now, we don’t know what the guidelines look like regarding masks and social distancing within our schools but won’t be anything we’ve not seen and overcome.

Each day brings us closer to school normalcy.

On that note, one of the more hilarious sides of back-to-school for me has always been the ever-growing school supply list. I can recall growing up and not needing much more than pencils and pens, paper, folders, binders, glue, and crayons/colored pencils. These days, my kids’ supply list resembles a CVS receipt. Last school year, my then third grader needed 16 glue sticks as a requirement. That’s right, 16. I seem to recall getting through an entire school year with one medium-sized bottle of glue. 

In closing, I’d love to find out some requirements on your child’s list that make you laugh. Visit us on Facebook and let us know. I’d like to include your comments in our next issue.

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