I realize that there are bigger issues I should be worried about, but this gigantic pile of papers I had to fill out really is getting to me. Every year the school sends home one page of info about my kids, already filled out, for me to correct and send back. They also send me more than a dozen pages asking the SAME info over and over again that I then must sign and sometimes have my spouse also sign and sometimes even my little second grader. I have three kids and there’s about an hour per kid to fill out. I did two last night and one this morning. I have no idea if my kids ate or put good things in their lunches or brushed their hair or teeth…not just this morning, but last night, too. It is all-encompassing, this paper duty.

Yes, I know it’s not just “the school” sending these things. Some of it is from the not-associated-legally-but-still-at-the-school after care program, some of it is from my kids extracurriculars, some of it is from individual teachers. But the stuff in the district packet, that stuff? I shouldn’t have to write my kids name and particulars on every freaking page. The first page has all the details, I corrected them, the rest should just be a page of tick boxes: can we take your kids photos? are you living in temporary conditions? do you need federal aid for lunches? And then send those forms that legitimately need info home with the kids that need them later. This waste of paper and waste of our time needs to stop.

AIE.