“Mom, when are we going to shop for me”, asked my son as we walked on the beach yesterday, stopping me mid-sentence and changing our conversation to the dreaded preparation for the new school year!
It turns out he was under the impression that we need to go do the whole new school uniform shopping thing like we did when he started Gr.1!
“You already have school uniform, and remember, Theo’s mom also gave you his uniform now that he’s going to a different school.” Staring at me with confusion written all over his face, I continued to explain. “You only need to buy a new uniform when you go to school for the very first time and when your uniform is too small”
Can you imagine buying new school uniform every year?! Especially when one shirt costs R160!
With a sly look on his face, he then said “but what if you need new shoes?”. Knowing that I bought him new white takkies mid-year (his other ones were apparently hurting him) and new school shoes in the last term (he came home with someone else’s left shoe and I couldn’t send my child to school in two left shoes! One size 11 the other size 12!). I had to think about my reply quite carefully, especially since he ended up wearing his old takkies and we found his other shoe a few days later! Eventually I just said “we will fit your shoes before the weekend and if they are too small then we can buy new shoes, okay”
Another unexpected expense. Just like the note I got with his school report about the Gr.2 text/work books that cost a whopping R430!!
I’ve had to add new shoes, lunch box and permanent marker to what was my very basic back-to-school shopping list that only had one item on it; GREY SOCKS (lots)!!
Later that night we quietly lay in bed and talked about Gr.2. The things that excites my son most about the new school year:
1) His new class is near First Aid
2) He gets to play on the big play ground
For now though, I just want to enjoy the holidays and NOT think about Gr.2! Even though I’ve started going to the library with my son twice a week to get him back into the “routine”…
