Back to school for who?

  Let me begin this by reminding everyone out there of the old joke about parenthood. It's the toughest job you'll ever love. That is as true as breathing for me. It's all about the offspring. She has managed to permeate everything from our diet to vacations to my writing. This is par for the course and I am more than content with our lifestyle change. It has certainly challenged my creativity to say the least. I have had to find all sorts of ways to get cooperation out of a lot of stubborn on two legs. It adds to the fun  when you know damn well whose DNA you're dealing with and you did this to yourself on purpose.
    There is also an old commercial for office supplies that says "It's the most wonderful time of the year." They are referring to the "Back to school season" as retailers call it. What's also been very true for me is that my daughter is in school, but we're the ones getting educated.  This has been true on a lot of levels. The "season" with all of its sales reminds me a lot of how sugary breakfast cereals are marketed. Why does everything have to be new every fall? "Merchandising, where the real money is made!"  (Mel Brooks, I think, wrote that.) There's your answer.
   I'm late to the party on this, which is typical for me. Our daughter is now in 5th grade. When she was in preschool everything had to have Elmo on it. We are now almost out of Pokemon hell. This last phase had some staying power. My grown up brain however, keeps looking at a perfectly good backpack from last year and I can't grasp the necessity of spending money for a new one when this one still functions. Therein lies my problem. "Function" was never the issue. The "Logo" is no longer correct. The solution would be to stop buying crap with anything on it in the first place. Slowly, the coffee kicks in.
   I recall having gone through this when I would contemplate throwing a birthday party for her majesty. I realized that if I only bought a few things with this week's hot item plastered on them and just stuck to matching colors for the rest I was much better off. I was no longer stuck using leftover Lightning McQueen plates for grown up birthdays, not that my husband ever cared. It appears this concept has much broader applications than I thought. I am much happier saving money where I can at the beginning of the school year. It leaves more room in the budget for liquor store gift cards for her teachers by June. They're gonna need it.