Back to School (which shall be referred to as BTS from here on out)

Above video from "Billy Madison"

For me, the lure of BTS is new stuff. There is nothing like the BTS sales. I'm not sure what the draw is, but even now, 5+ years out of school and I need new notebooks and pencils and markers and why not throw a new backpack in for good measure! Maybe it's because I'm still "in school", just in a different capacity. All of those sharpened pencils and notebooks with pristine pages waiting to be filled with new learning, information, and ideas is so promising.

I can go to Target and wander and examine in the BTS aisles for a good hour. It amazes me how many different products there are compared to when I was in school. Remember covering your books with brown paper sacks? That is so over. Now you've got to buy the stretch fabric book covers. Where is the fun in that? I kinda liked wrestling with that paper sack. And pens and pencils. Remember when Bic was it? Now you've got endless options when choosing a writing utensil. It's crazy!

I love BTS so much that the last three years I worked as a BTS consultant through Crayola at a local Wal-Mart store. For several hours, I did my best to help parents and families navigate the BTS madness. Parents entered that aisle with a deer in the headlights look and I got to help them choose the products that would make the school year successful!

This year, the BTS program at Wal-Mart was cancelled in Nebraska and I have really limited myself to what new school supplies I have purchased. I have gotten three pretty notebooks and a ginormous package of mechanical pencils, but that's it. I do have my eye on the jumbo pack of Sharpie markers with every color imaginable, so we'll see what the next week brings. My blissful, stress free summer with E is coming to an end and I have to return to work. I am ready...I think!

So, what was/is your favorite part about BTS?