The Most Wonderful Time of the Year --For School Supplies!

Today's Wonder of the World is...Clean White Paper For A New School Year!

So where's the paper in this pile of Sam's fourth grade school supplies? It's there, in with the Kleenex and the Clorox wipes and the antibacterial hand soap. Sam starts back to school today, and at least I know he'll be clean. And hopefully he'll learn a lot too!

Ever since we moved home from France, the beginning of the school year always brings back memories/nightmares from preparation for la Rentrée, the return to French school. Ah the memories/nightmares...the fountain pens, the gomme (erasers,) the crayons (No not crayons--pencils,) the chemise cartonnées (and no, that's not a cardboard shirt,) and most of all THE CAHIERS! So many kinds of notebooks!

Oh how the French love their paper!
And I loved it too, once I understood it.
Here's an example of one type of French paper. It's a page out of Ben's very first French notebook, from first grade.

Tra la la, c'est moi, Gafi!
That page is from his first few days of French first grade, when he didn't understand a word his teacher said. That's when he became a pro at mimicking and learned to write in cursive along with his classmates. Now he uses his mimicking talent to do impersonations. Usually of me or his dad when we're mad at him, so that we'll fall over laughing and forget all about whatever upset us. Sneaky boy.

By the way, do you know who Gafi is?
If you go to school in France you do. At least you did back then.
Gafi is un fantôme. A ghost! Sometimes he's naughty, but he's always fun.


He's a lot more fun than some French teachers, who, when the other first graders are teasing you about how big your feet are, and you complain to them (because you've started to understand French and realize what they're saying) look down at your feet and say to you, "Well, you must admit, they are enormous."
What can I say? They tell it like it is.
Ben grew to love first grade. And he ADORED his plain spoken teacher.
And his writing got better.

Here's an example from second grade, which shows another kind of paper they used.

The French just love different kinds of paper. You should see the school supply lists! Ben's second grade teacher's required supply list was a page and a half long, single spaced!
But all this paper talk made me think of this.

Flickr photo by adellecharles
Did you learn on it too?
And that got me wondering...what kind of paper do they use in other countries?

Here's some paper from Mexico.

Flickr photo by abby
The French use that kind too.

I love this kind, and not just because of the COURAGe.

Flickr photo by rockronle
It's for writing Chinese characters! Click on it for a better view.

Do fresh blank notebooks make your heart skip a beat? Or is paper just paper?
What about the other supplies?
Like these staplers I love.

Photo thanks to See Jane Work.
Go stop by See Jane Work, and find loads of pretty/fun supplies.

Or stop by one of my favorite blogs, Jane's Apron. (What is it about Jane? She's everywhere these days!) Look in at her etsy shop HERE to find the coolest clipboards around.

And then hop back to her blog, and read how to make one! And no, you sewing hater. You can make them with whatever paper you want.

I'm envious of all those supplies Sam gets to carry around.
I might just have to buy myself a brand new composition book. Or two.
Like these.

You can find them at Paper Peddlers etsy shop, HERE.
Or I could always go to Staples, though it's kind of crazy there this time of year. On second thought, I'll just watch this old Staples commercial. I like the summer around my house, but I have to admit, I LOVE this commercial!

Have a Wonder-Full Tuesday, everyone!
Love, Becky