The Time for Change: Back to School Care Package For the Teacher in Your Life

Is there someone in your life who is a teacher? Is there someone in your life who could use a little boost this time of the year? Do you live approximately 479 miles from someone who would be able to use some fun new school supplies for school? Well, I've got you covered.

I put together a little care package for Bestest Friend last week and here's the end result. I used one of the bags that I recently sewed to hold a bunch of Sharpies, mechanical pencils, pens, and a couple of erasers. I also included a box of crayons, Post-It notes, and a magnetic memo pad (not pictured) to round out the collection of school supplies.

I also looked through my envelopes and envelopes of stickers (what grown ass woman needs as many stickers as I have? I do not know) and threw in some unused sheets of stickers. When I ever so briefly taught high school my students really enjoyed getting stickers on their assignments more than I thought they would. Or you can just give them to your own kid. You know, whatever.

My experience with high schoolers also taught me about the drama of their lives. I included some stuff that you might think would be in the domain of some administrator or school nurse, but that I frequently pulled out of my own desk drawer in a math classroom.

1. Kleenex tissues - I would get very angry about having to walk across my classroom to get to tissues, so these are nice to have at your desk.
2. Tylenol - So many headaches with screechy teenage voices all around you. This could explain why I don't teach secondary education anymore.
3. Johnson and Johnson First Aid Kit - Look, I know that the rules say you should send kids to the nurse for things like cuts and whatnot. But when a kid would get a paper cut and it would take her out of class for twenty-five minutes, I would get pissed off. I kept some Band-Aids with me and when a kid got a very minor cut, I would just hand one over.
4. Ear plugs - I handed these things out like candy to my special needs students. And maybe I used them a handful of times myself to get through grading.
5. Sewing kit - Teenage girls frequently wear clothing that falls apart. I blame Forever 21. Having safety pins on hand rarely came in handy, but when it did come in handy, it was really handy. Also, I like having needle and thread with me at all times because I am a control freak. Unraveling sweaters are not a crisis in my life.
6. Nail file - Have you ever broken a nail and realized you had to wait five hours until you got home to cut and trim it? It's the worst.
7. Hand wipes - People, especially not quite grown ones, are gross and filled with germs. You don't want to bring those germs home.

I also bought some ChapStick to put in there, but I accidentally forget to put it in the box when it got mailed. Sorry, Bestest Friend. I will put it in the desk of my new office!!