Mysterious Supply on the Back to School List

Since the Missouri Tax Free Weekend is upon us, legions of people will bombard the aisles of our local stores to pick up (among other things) school supplies. I will be one of them. And, I must say that I am mystified by some of the things on the school supply lists. Sure, I understand the need for pencils, pens, notebooks and that kind of stuff. But, there is a mystery on the list I will never understand: an unbelievable amount of Kleenex tissues.

For what it's worth, here's a list of things that (according to the Missouri Dept of Revenue website) qualify for tax-free:

The MISSOURI sales tax exemption is limited to:

Clothing – any article having a taxable value of $100 or less
School supplies – not to exceed $50 per purchase
Computer software – taxable value of $350 or less
Personal computers – not to exceed $3,500
Computer peripheral devices – not to exceed $3,500

Now, back to the mysterious inclusion of Kleenex on the school supply lists. When I was a kid, I had some pencils, notebooks and an Evel Knievel lunchbox and I was good to go. Now, my kids are each required to have 1300 boxes of Kleenex (slight exaggeration).

I decided to ask my mother why she thinks that Kleenex are now a required item on all school supply lists. She had the most reasonable answer I've heard so far. Her response? "Having a ton of Kleenex around would have been handy when I used to look at your report card".

Thanks Mom. I can't argue with that kind of logic.