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July 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The hallmark of a person

Abe Novick: Up, up, and aliya

July 1, 2009

Rabbi Avi Shafran: The Road Taken

The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta: Get into the holiday spirit with these Star-Spangled desserts

June 30, 2009

Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg: What makes a great parent?

Caroline B. Glick: Ideologue-in-Chief

June 29, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Beware of 'Caveat Emptor'

Steven Emerson: ACLU pushing for more money for Hamas

June 26, 2009

Rabbi Yoni Posnick: Learn the secret to a healthy marriage from a scriptural villain

Caroline B. Glick: Barack Obama vs. International Law

June 25, 2009

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf: The Absurd Power of Truth

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 24, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Advancement of technology is a wake-up call for humanity

The Kosher Gourmet by Andrea Weigl: Summer on a stick: Making frozen treats can be easy, creative and fun

June 23, 2009

Martin M. Bodek: 'On Surnames': And so, We Begin

Caroline B. Glick: The Obama Effect

June 22, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Working for a corrupt firm

N. Richard Greenfield : Where are American Jews?

June 19, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Emotion v. intellect

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's rare opportunity

June 18, 2009

Jonathan Rosenblum: Sometimes it is more essential to define the nature of evil than good

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 17, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Language of Confusion

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Nothing pleases Dad more than a thick, juicy onion-smothered steak. Add home-Baked Potato Chips and …

June 16, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Career v. Careersism

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's losing streak and Israel

Richard Z. Chesnoff: ‘Palestinians’: Never Missing an Opportunity …

June 15, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: How Judea and Samaria can become 'Palestine'

Daniel Pipes: Where Netanyahu's speech failed

June 12, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Some big thoughts about not acting so big

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's High Commissioner

June 11, 2009

Victor Davis Hanson: Our historically challenged President

Mitch Albom: Beware the True Believers

Lewis Grossberger: What we learn from the new Hitler photos

June 10, 2009

Mort Zuckerman: What Obama and his advisors won't -- or refuse to -- grasp about Israel and the Muslim world

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky Lotsa pasta: Tips, techniques and (amazing) taste

June 9, 2009

Anne Bayefsky: Obama's stunning offense to Israel and the Jewish people

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: America's first Muslim president?

June 8, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Merchant must take responsibility for careless shopper?

Mark Steyn: A superpower that feeds on mediocrity cannot survive for long on leftovers from the past

Richard Z. Chesnoff: How do you say 'kumbaya' in Arabic?

June 5, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: In quest of spirituality

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's Arabian dreams

Charles Krauthammer: The Settlements Myth

June 4, 2009

Paul Greenberg: The War Comes to Little Rock

The Kosher Gourmet by Judy Hevrdejs: Splash it on! Tap your inner jazz musician and improvise when stirring up a vinaigrette

June 3, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Should terrible teacher be exposed?

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Israel Lobby: Missing in Action

June 2, 2009

Dennis Prager: The Speech President Obama Won't Dare Give in Egypt

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Pressure on Israel raises war risk

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review August 30, 2006 / 6 Elul, 5766

Anxiety amid the glue sticks

By Lenore Skenazy


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | I'm not sure which is more depressing: Passing the bathing suits on their rock-bottom sales racks, or seeing the happy moms on their way to the three-ring binder display. Am I the only one who regards school supply shopping with the cheer usually reserved for pet burials?


I know this should be a time of joy: The kids are growing up, they're starting a new grade, they're growing up — did I say that already? But when I realized that my fifth-grader didn't even have crayons on his list anymore, I felt like I might as well go drop him off at college — or the office. How swiftly flow the years from paste to pens to PCs! Then I felt guilty for feeling good when I saw that his list included Band-Aids.


Still young enough for boo-boos. Hooray!


"The school year starting is like a birthday," said Kit Yarrow, a psychologist attempting to explain why some parents feel so bummed cruising Office Depot on a summer's day. "But in September, it's you and all the other moms saying, 'Gosh! My kid is a fifth-grader!' " And by the way, she added darkly, "Just wait till he's 13."


I'm waiting. And in the meantime, I am in the school supply aisle, trying to get the 1 zillion, god-are-these-teachers-anal items to send with my son on opening day:

  • 50 pencils (50? Are there beavers in his class?)

  • One package EXPO brand low-odor, chisel-tip, dry-erase markers (could you be a bit more specific?)

  • One box of tissues (for me!)


"What I want to know," asked mom Katie Wilkinson, "is when they say, 'Crayola brand,' do I have to? 'Pack of wipes' — is that baby wipes or disinfectant wipes for the desk?"


Why does getting all this right matter so much to us, anyway?


A friend of mine believes that when we shop for our kids, we revert to being kids ourselves. If you're an ex-goody-goody like me, you want to impress your teacher by being, as usual, perfect.


Maybe the non-goody-goodies are the ones who shop so cheerfully. Their self-worth does not hang on wresting that last pink eraser — Back off, witch! It's mine! — from the other mom about to grab it.


But the real source of my anxiety is clearly this: By the time you're buying erasers, you are facing the inevitable: school. And with school comes another year of dragging your kids out of bed, juggling who will pick them up, goading them to do their homework, inviting them to go to bed, ordering them to go to bed, threatening them: It's 9:30! Lights out! And then spending the next hour signing all the crumpled forms you find in their backpacks.


Their dear little backpacks, with the Reese's wrappers and origami footballs in them.


And the school supplies, of course, because you have a school-age kid. And deep down, you know you are very lucky.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Lenore Skenazy is a columnist for The New York Daily News. Comment by clicking here.

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© 2006, NY Daily News

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