I walked Marlena to school this morning in a dense fog, for once literally, as opposed to my usual lack-of-sleep induced mental fog. It was the type of fog that makes the sky look as though it is bleeding into the rest of the world. A boundary fuzzing fog. A quiet book reading by the fire, drinking hot cocoa, kind of fog. No, not hot cocoa, chocolate, drinking chocolate, like they did in Europe, preferably brought to me by a butler. A trusty and loyal butler, who has been with my family for as long as I can remember and who helps maintain my BatCave when I am off saving the world from heavily made up melodramatic Jack Nicholsons.

Shakes off the fog.

My son has fallen asleep in his jumper again. I have no idea why he would want to sleep crouched over a hard plastic surface attached to bunjee cables, but he does. He will occasionally startle a little, jump once or twice, and then fall back into slumber. I think it is safe to say he is silly.

I have been spending my headache recovery wisely, transforming yarn into warm hats and mittens, watching ER reruns, and generally avoiding doing anything that resembles real work. Sadly that must stop. The headache is gone, the headache hangover is mostly gone, and the pile of work on my desk is still here. Sigh.

I need to get this work all done today, and make yet another trip to Costco, this time for supplies for Marlena’s school. It is only $46 for a case of multi-purpose paper there. Two cases would more than double the amount of paper her teacher can use for the class. I am sending in paper, glue sticks, and these awesome little answer paddles I found.

I was tempted to buy individual chalkboards and chalk, and then photograph today’s children learning with the same materials used by Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Little House on the Prairie, but I should devote all my resources to helping the children instead of making photograpic political statements.

Off to the BatCave.

I have had a migraine for the past few days, and therefore have not been up to much beyond nursing the baby on the couch. Sadly, this also means that not much of interest has occurred, except for back to school night, and national delurking day.

(If you lurk, say hello! I will try and hit the blogs I skulk around in and say hello as well!)

To begin with, Marlena’s school is located in one large “group learning” room. Yes, her class is separated from the other classes by a few bookshelves and a chalk board. I would find that learning environment beyond distracting, but Marlena (and her teacher) assures me is it not. Her teacher is very nice, and seems very interested in teaching my child to love education, which is by far more important than teaching her social studies and math at this age. Even better, she only has 18 students in her class, instead of the 28 she had last year. This means smaller groups, more individual attention, etc.

Their class cubby has it’s own computers, a mini-library, and a little fold up closet for the kids stuff. It is a cozy and colorful little set up.

Of course, while we as a nation spend billions on the war in Iraq and research for more advance people killing weapons, my child’s teacher is limited to two reams of paper per month, for a class of 18. She often has to send the children home with a book, instead of sending the kids home with homework, simply because she is out of paper to run copies of the homework off on.

Lee and I will be giving her a case of paper this week, because really, REALLY?

She also requested a donation of glue sticks for art projects, as they are almost out of glue.

In fact, in lieu of bothering all my friends and family with the myriad of fund-raising items that are sent out each month, I have a new plan. I won’t be asking you all to buy wrapping paper through the school, or cookie dough you don’t need, or sausage and cheese sets. Instead, I am going to ask you to please send me a small check to support Marlena’s education. After receiving said small checks, I will confer with her teacher, and then go to Costco or Staples and buy the supplies Marlena’s class needs for the year. That way we can all participate in her education directly, instead of through an intermediary who will skim 50% to 80% of the money off the top. You can also click on the ChipIn widget on the sidebar to contribute.

I am so tired of seeing my daughter’s education suffer for lack of money. I am tired of seeing companies make money off of school fund-raising. Why on earth is it more acceptable for a cookie dough company to sell cookie dough through the parents and children, and donate half the profits to the school than it is for each parent to send the school a check at the beginning of the year? I don’t want the added calories, I just want to support my child’s education.

So, that rant is over, for now. Oliver, having fallen asleep in his johnny jump up again, is playing my tune. He awoke as soon as I moved him from what appeared to be a hideously uncomfortable position, but was apparently actually quite cosy, and is now demanding to be held.
Oliver asleep in his Johnny Jump-Up: