Well folks, it's everyone's favorite time of the year: piles of school supplies, the smell of fresh crayon boxes (my favorite by the way), and tons of handouts from teachers to parents who aren't interested in looking at the neon pieces of paper with all sorts of useless information. Who cares if Mrs. Smith has two Yorkies, just got back from a trip to Tokyo, and spends her free time running her Etsy shop? How does that benefit their children's education?

A parent's first impression of the person who is going to spend eight plus hours a day with their gift from above is the infamous school supply list. It always contains things like markers, folders, composition books, and the occasional classroom fee. However, each year it seems as if teachers get more and more specific about each item. Why does the composition book have to be just black and white? Why do we have to buy exactly four yellow highlighters, and all other colors are banned? And for heavens sake, why do we always have to buy 24 red capped pens and disinfectant wipes for the teacher when she could just as well buy them herself?

Teachers always ask for so much extra stuff. It seems like it's only fair that she provide the school supplies that will be shared by the entire class. Doesn't she know parents can't afford to buy things for everyone to use? These days teachers just seem to be greedy and are asking for everything under the sun.

But lets take a look at everything teachers are asking for. They want good quality supplies for your children. Classroom fees are needed so they can afford nice technology to provide the best education for their students. But supplies and money aren't the only thing they are being greedy about. Teachers want 100 percent of their students' attention. They ask for eight long hours of their time five days of a week, every week for 36 weeks. With some children only getting out of school in the early evening, an extra-curricular, bath time, and scarfing down dinner in between math problems in time for bed, there isn't much time left in the day left over for parents. Why does she get to spend more time with your kids than you do?

Time isn't the only thing they want. They also ask for all of your child's good grades. During those long eight hours a day a teacher and their students spend together, they ask for your child's knowledge and skills. They spend the whole day asking for your child to drill those math problems, grammar lessons, and stories into their head for the test they are asking them to study for that's next week (once again, leading to more time). Being good isn't good enough, teachers want their students to be the best of the best.

Throughout the school year, teachers also ask for a relationship with their students. I mean they are spending every day together having countless conversations. Children don't always have the best attention span, so to keep things interesting and moving forward teachers sometimes have to joke around and make a few funnies, causing those 24 students to fall in love with their daytime mommy. There are a few spare moments during the day when the teacher can form those wonderful bonds that grows stronger with each passing hour. By the end of the year they ask for your child's love and memories as they depart, begging for one last hug as their students walk out the door for the final time.

What people don't think of teachers asking for is parent cooperation. Sometimes things just can't be resolved in a classroom. A student could be struggling with homework, be having problems with some fellow students, or simply need someone to talk about the awesome "A" they got on the spelling test last week. Believe it or not, teachers can't do everything. Asking for parent help is to ensure their students, AKA your children, have the best education possible. It isn't enough the students try hard, these days parents are expected to be almost as involved as the actual children.

So to tally up everything teachers ask for: hugs, love, knowledge, attention, time, supplies, and for parent cooperation.That is a pretty big list, especially since each item is intertwined and cannot be successfully achieved without another. So are teachers being greedy? Or do they simply just want to provide a good learning environment for the children? It's hard to admit, but sometimes being greedy isn't such a bad thing.