I cannot figure out where my summer went. Yes, it is still blazing hot outside. But once uniform shorts and shirts show up in my laundry room I know it is time for school to start. And if that left any doubt, tripping over the huge stack of school supplies in my den would let me know for sure.

School supply lists have been a hot topic at the newspaper recently. Mainly because people without school age children are fascinated by the variety of items on them and amazed at the cost of sending a child to school, even to a public school.

Reading over the lists being faxed in from all over the Miss-Lou brought back more memories than I can put in this space.

When I only had one little one in school I can remember marching into a store with &uot;The List.&uot; Determined that my little girl would have the tools she needed to learn, I walked around for an hour with a ruler looking for the correct size basket for her cubbie. All new crayons were bought for the art box. And because I couldn’t decide which would help her creativity more she got markers (Crayola, of course) in the classic and bold colors.

The next year I did the entire process over and the next. Until finally I began to notice that other moms were not as stressed over this as I was. Their children were using the closest size basket they could find. Not a one of them had driven to Jackson, ruler in hand on the great search. Their childrens art boxes still held the previous years art supplies.

I soon learned broken crayons colored as well as new ones and if only one marker ran out of ink you did need an entire new pack.

In other words, I grew-up and so did my children.

My daughters, Holly and Emily, are not as concerned with the process as my son Matthew is. They are content for me to pick out their supplies and drop them in their waiting backpacks.

Matthew on the other hand loves school supplies. This year we went in an office supply store and he went nuts. Emily and I strolled up and down the aisles while he handled every different pen and pencil in the store. Agonizing over a 1-inch or a 1 1/2-inch binder takes longer than you think.

Now if Emily and I could only figure out why there aren’t any Power Puff Girls lunchboxes in town.

Christina Hall is the lifestyle editor at The Democrat. She can be reached at 445-3549 or by e-mail at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com