school gimmicks

You know what I feel super mediocre about? Gimmicky school stuff. It feels like every single week we get a new fundraising appeal. The heart smart thing. Book fairs. Bring a ream of paper to school (no kidding). Selling wrapping paper and other crappy monogrammed items nobody wants to buy. Well, actually I did get a monogrammed bag but that’s only because I really needed something to organize all my notecards and thank-you notes that I send to people for donating $5 every other week to my kids’ schools. Kid1 gets so worked up about the prizes. I mean, I dig the prizes we get from donating to NPR, mainly because I have a vintage canvas bag collection that will fund my retirement when I sell them all. But it’s honestly not worth the temper tantrums over the forgettable prizes that seem oh so very important that particular day. The sloth slap wrist bracelet. The keychain that has some kind of app that I’m supposed to download so it will dance or come to life? I don’t get it. As a kid I had to sell school spices, which I never did. And the school survived because the district passed bonds. And selling cookies was my least favorite thing about the Girl Scouts. I am big on no-pressure sales. I always tell salespeople I don’t need any help in stores, because I don’t need any help.