Monday, August 06, 2007

QOTW: All Hail, The Trapper Keeper!

It's safe to say that, as a Ritalin-deprived hyperactive Grade School kid, I was a little unorganized when it came to those minor school-related details such as homework, tests, projects, summer reading assignments, yada, yada, yada.

My lack of preparedness got so bad that one day my Mom picked me up after school and told me she was taking me to the store to get a Trapper Keeper.



Honestly, my first thought was, "Cool! I hope they have one with Transformers on it!"

(No such luck! The store was out of ones with Transformers on them and my mom wasn't about to embark on a cross-town scavenger hunt looking for one that did!)

I remember how amazed I was at how quickly my grades improved once I started using my generic looking Trapper Keeper. It was a great discovery to find that I was actually pretty good at homework when I actually did it! And now that I had something to remind me to study, tests didn't seem nearly as hard either!

(This was one of the first "A-ha!" moments for Little Wade!)

After Grade School, I went on to make plenty of Honor Rolls and Dean's Lists so I guess I have the Trapper Keeper to thank for my educational salvation.

It makes me wonder how much more I could have accomplished as an eager young mind had I had a Trapper Keeper and a healthy daily dose of Ritalin!

Would love to hear your favorite Trapper Keeper story if you got one!
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"Which was your favorite 'back to school' supply?"

Total votes: 24

Trapper Keeper: 45% (11 votes)

Superhero Lunch Box: 8% (2 votes)

Giant eraser: 0% (0 votes)

Big Chief writing pad: 8% (2 votes)

New box of Crayola crayons: 25% (6 votes)

Box of Kleenex for your home room: 0% (0 votes)

Back pack: 4% (1 vote)

Mechanical pencil: 12% (3 votes)

12 comments:

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

Hello, Wade.

And now that I had something to remind me to study, tests didn't seem nearly as hard either!

I did not work very hard in elementary and secondary school. Perhaps if I had owned more impressive school supplies, I would have been psychologically influenced to try harder.

Russ;)

Jody said...

We were having wadesrantings withdrawls. Glad you are back in the game! I'm sad to say that I never had a Trapper Keeper. Your blog makes me wonder if I would have been better at those multiplication tables had I had one.

Shannon said...

I don't have a cool Trapper Keeper story except that it was one of the highlights every "back to school shopping" day. It was a toss up though, between the crayons and a trapper keeper. I LOVE the school supplies aisle!!!

Kelly said...

It couldn't just be the Plain Jane Trapper Keeper. My favorite was the one with the super cool '80s hot pink convertible on the front cover.

Jennifer said...

Kids these days don't even know what it's like to have the pure joy and excitement of combing the school supply aisle in search for the perfect things. Now, schools usually do a pre-made pack that has been pre-approved for each grade level. I see the point- it makes sense so that every kid has exactly what they need on the first day and for the year but it also stinks because it all looks the same and the kids just don't get that experience. I can remember rearranging my school supply box over and over and placing items into my backpack different ways. It just takes all the fun out of it!!

Wade said...

Hey Russ,

Ha!

I would certainly pass on a do-over of my school days. But I have always wished I could go back and actually try to make good grades.

But since I can't, I'll run your theory past my boss by telling him I would be much more effective at work if I had an iPhone!

Thanks for the great idea!
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Hey J & J,

Yeah, Kelly and I headed out of town for a few days and I allowed myself to disconnect. When I came back I realized I should have hung a "Gone Fishing" sign on my blog.

As for a Trapper Keeper helping you with multiplication tables - it certainly would have if you had put your tables in your Trapper Keeper and then slept with your Trapper Keeper under your pillow at night.

I did that all the time and worked great - provided, of course, that you spent the entire previous evening branding your multiplication tables into your brain by writing them out hundreds of times until your hand finally cramped up into a fist so tight that no one could get your hand to open even if they tried.

(Whoo-hoo! Run-on sentence!)
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Hey Shannon,

The 'Back To School' Aisle can be a pivotal place in your educational career, however. The trick is to convince your mom that you needed a new one of everything.

Last year's crayons were still very usable - but you needed a new box of crayons because this year there are 82 colors instead of only 64.

And those additional 18 shades of color can prove to be important when working on that crucial lanscape drawing.

Let's say that you've already used Fuscia to draw flowers but you need a darker shade of purple for the randomly placed elephant. If you have the 82 color set then you can use Vivid Violet for the elephant.

But if you're left with having to peel back the paper wrapping on last year's Blue Violet then you'll probably end up with getting a Check Minus on the picture and eventually drop out of school altogether . . . all because your parents wouldn't get you the 82 color crayon set!

So always make the most out of a trip down the "Back To School" ailse!
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Hey Babe,

And didn't it seem so cool to have a convertible? Don't you remember thinking, "Wow! I hope I can a convertible some day?" If they put it on the side of a Trapper Keeper than it must be right! Right?

All you have to do is say the word and I will make it my goal to help you realize the dreams of your childhood! (Provided they come in any color but hot pink!)

Thanks all for stopping by,

W

Wade said...

Hey Jennifer,

Wow! That does stink for the kids! I'm like you though - I want them to be able to enjoy the same things we enjoyed growing up.

There was always something about the start of a new school year. The new supplies, the new clothes, the new rooms, the new teachers. It was all very exciting . . . until you got your first homework assignment!

As a kid, I probably would have really struggled with the pre-packed pack of supplies seeing how I felt that having either Transformers or Star Wars characters on the side of what ever I used would have a direct correlation to my degree of scholastic success.

But with my luck, I would have been the one boy who ended up with the pack of school supplies covered with Hello Kitty! The resulting ridicule would have costed thousands in adult therapy!

So, I agree, I think the pre-packed school supplies are a really bad idea!

Thanks for stopping by,

W

Chris and Sarah said...

I must admit that even with a trapper keeper, I was hopelessly disorganized! In sixth grade our teacher would pretend to be the "desk fairy." A few times each semester, after we all left for the day, she would examine all of our desks and either leave a jolly rancher for the neat desks or dump the messy ones on the floor. I guess it was a way of finally making us clean our desks, but always a bummer for me. I'm sure now, Chris wishes he could do the same thing with my closet. :-)
-Sarah

Jill said...

I loved my Trapped Keeper! Mine had a kitten on it. ;) My boys have very specific lists for what they need for schhol. And do you know one year Quinn's actually said in huge letters "NO TRAPPER KEEPERS!" Humph. Go figure. - Jill

Anonymous said...

I have never seen that before :-o

I was also hopelessly disorganised. As soon as I needed to learn for a test, I had to borrow the notes from my best friend because I had completely lost the overview.

Have you ever tried Ritalin? I did at the age of 20 and it made some things easier but a lot of things more complicated, so I chose to let it go again.

I guess I developed enough methods to fight against disorganisation and all other ADD expressions :-)

laura said...

I have to say I was one of the organizational dorks in the world of schoolness. Now mind you I never had a pocket protector or anything (I was "cool" in the ways I expressed myself :) but I still remember that in third grade my teacher gave us each our own shelf in her cabinet to keep supplies in. We girls got totally caught up in who could have the coolest colored bins and fill them with things that every third grader needs... it was an adventure and my mom and dad were pretty good about "indulging" the craziness and so it was fun! I can't say I ever remember having a Trapper Keeper... where did I go wrong?

Wade said...

Hey Sarah,

Desk fairy, huh? Wow! I think I would have had another name for her if she had beeb my teacher!

But what a bummer to come straggling into your first class of the morning only to discover your desk had been raided by stinkin' Homeland Security!

See, that would never work today. Even 6th Graders know how to play the "Invasion of Privacy" card. And you'd still get in trouble with the kids with clean desks because their parents would throw a fit about handing out Jolly Ranchers.

That being said, I may have to side with Chris on closet organization! Ha!

(I sure hope my blog doesn't end on some government anti-terrorist list because of the phrase 'stinkin' Homeland Securty'!)
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Hey Jill,

No Trapper Keepers? Sheesh!

Why are they so strict with school supplies? I'm all about 'whatever works' - so I may be one of those annoying parents who will try to bend the rules here and there.

If the Trapper Keeper works, why can't they use it?
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Hey Helen,

I remember seeing something similar to Trapper Keepers while studying in France but I can't remember what it was called. Probably "Le Trapper Keeper".

Just imagine 5 or 6 pocket folders in a 3-ring binder with your favorite super hero or generic landscape picture on the outside sold at incredibly inflated prices.

As for Ritalin - I've never been prescribed anything (because I've never been diagnosed with anything). But I think I've just learned how to adapt on my own.

Some days are better than others!
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Hey Laura,

Go ahead and say it - you made smart cool! You pulled off smart in a way that made students like me half-jealous, half-mad. Jealous because we wished we had the same 'smarts' and mad because we knew that while we were cramming the night before, you were merely reviewing!

Your colored bin story reminds me of one of Kelly's prized possessions: her collection of different colored Sharpie pens that she uses to write notes/cards with.

Girls and their stuff!

Thanks all for stopping by (and reading my really long comments),

W