The annual ritual of covering school books...

Disclaimer: This is not a travel-related or a food-related post. However, I wanted to pen down my thoughts on this fun chore, for moms like me.

It’s that time of the year when you find yourself amongst a lot of school books; text books, note books, work books, almanacs; all waiting to get covered. It is a big task in my house as it is time consuming and I am the only one in my house who can cover these books. I can gladly pass on the task to my dad whenever he is visiting, but this summer he is not and so the onus is on me.  I have never seen my husband coming forward to do this and I too am not keen on he doing it in a messy way ;)

During my school days, I still remember, my dad used to get this chore done and seriously, what a perfectionist he was! Rolls of brown paper used to adorn our living room. He used to sit on the floor with all the paraphernalia including a pair of scissors , labels and glue and go on tirelessly. I and my brother used to bring all our school books and dump it in front of him and he used to cover them all in one go with such amazing dexterity. To finish it up, he used to label our books with his artistic handwriting…alphabets and numbers curving up, their tails extending to give an artistic appeal to our names. Don’t these minute attention-to-details signify a labour of love? Doesn’t it reflect the love parents shower on their children! Of course, it does! Now that I am in dad’s shoes, I understand that.

So it’s my turn to do the same for my son…it’s a chore as I have to balance the transparent plastic sheets between my not-so-deft fingers and stick them on to the book with a cello tape. I have to strive to get a smooth finish, but I do want my son’s books to be perfect when he starts his new academic year.

 On a side note, I wonder why schools nowadays insist on a plastic, see-through cover, when we All – including these schools, talk about going green and eco-friendly. Not only are we adding to the plastic dump but we are also not inculcating green practices in our children. Stuff to ponder???

Well, all that said and done, I am off to attend to my sweet chore. Twenty books to be covered in a week’s time…3-4 books a day is good enough, isn’t it!  :) It gives me great joy to take care of my little one’s small needs and makes me feel proud when he looks up to me and says …Mamma, you are the best!

Books n Covers