WHAT RUTH LILLY'S CHECK BOUGHT / ADDRESSING THE GREATEST HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE...

That's quite a muddled blog title, ain't it. But Poetry -- it's about that leap, as Bly and others have called it!

So, first, forgive me for wallowing, but this is my FIRST Back-To-School Shopping Experience and I must torture you with the details.

As background, it's been less than two years when Michael arrived in the U.S. and with such arrival, we had to get him a wardrobe from scratch. So I never really did Back-To-School Shopping when he entered 7th grade last year as that was all part of Entering-the-United-States Shopping. Ah--but this year! As he enters 8th grade next week, I had to engage in this wondrous Parenting Experience!

(Yes I find it wondrous. It's a first for me. Get over your jaded self.)

So, for my inaugural BTS, here's moi list with help from my poems who sold themselves (grin):

BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING

a pair of jeans
a short-sleeved shirt
three long-sleeved shirts
two sweatsuit jackets
athletic shorts
6 white t-shirts
8 pairs of white and grey athletic socks
a pair of shoes
insulated lunch bag
calculator
notebooks
pencils
erasers
a ruler

I also have a new credit card -- the GAP credit card! I got it because if I signed up, I'd get 15% off the first bill and it's likely I'll buy the majority of Michael's wardrobe there in the future.

Having said that, I just learned what many, more experienced parents no doubt know. Old Navy is cheaper than the GAP and many of the items are similar if not the same. I know this because I first bought Michael a GAP sweatsuit/jacket. Then I left it behind when we went to the East Coast. So while on the road we went into this Old Navy store and got him ... what looks to be the exact same sweatsuit but less expensive! I apparently would pay a premium for the "GAP" versus "Old Navy" label. So, should I give a *)&* about the label-premium? I'll let you wonder ... though it's not like "Old Navy" means something like "SOQ", right? Chuckle....

But in case you wonder why there doesn't seem much clothes-buying on my BTS List, it's because Michael is growing a lot -- he grew nearly two inches since March! How's that for thriving! In less than two years, his shoe size has grown from size 4 to size 8, and his clothes size has grown from size 7 to nearly size 14 (which would be his apt size for his age)! So I know I'll just have to do another wardrobe shopping in the middle of the schoolyear to accommodate his growth. It's amazing what happens when you take a neglected child and move them to a loving, family environment....

.... which, actually, brings me to an unexpected bit of GREAT News. I've occasionally referenced adoption on this poetics blog. To be a poet is to observe -- and I know that the GREATEST HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE out there is the existence of approximately 147 million orphans worldwide. By being such a pervasive problem, it also drops off peoples' attention spans.

Well, I am so happy to learn that at least one child will have found a new family. Go HERE for the details; scroll down to the Comments section -- Best wishes to the Mason Family who met Jhonathan through the wonderful Kidsave program (also how we met Michael). And if you must know, and you should, here are some children who came to the U.S. this summer hoping for new families ... and are still looking. This is the internet -- be a Poet and pass on the Word.