Back-to-School Ads Already? Promos Are Losing Their 'Seasonal' Aspect.

What's worse than retailers putting Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving? How about companies announcing back-to-school sales before school is out?

My colleague Tracy Grant, editor of Weekend and KidsPost, recently forwarded me a couple of news releases, both of which arrived before the manifolds on the area's schoolbus fleet had even cooled down.

One was from Smead, a provider of filing and organizational products. It began: "While school just got out, it won't be long before paperwork for the upcoming school year starts to appear: summer reading lists, orientation schedules and school pictures. Then it's on to a new year full of homework assignments, schedules and activities."

The other was from Catalogs.com: "Back-to-school shopping doesn't need to mean going back to over-crowded stores, limited selections and high prices. Smart shoppers make the grade finding new back-to-school clothes, lunch boxes and backpacks for their kids, while earning extra credit and big savings through Catalogs.com."

Can't we let summer start before thinking of its inevitable end? Shopping for school supplies now smacks of a chilly efficiency that borders on the obsessive. And as for buying back-to-school clothes: In my experience, the longer you wait the better. Buying a first-day-of-school outfit in June is a sure way to guarantee that your kid will have shot up six inches by September.

High School Reunions

If you have a high school reunion coming up, you're more likely to have shot out six inches than up. But pick a dark color and squeeze into some Spanx and you'll be fine. These area schools are reuniting in the coming months:

Northwestern High Class of 1979 -- July 10-12. http://www.classmates.com.

Woodbridge Senior High Class of 1989 -- July 11. http://www.greatreunions.com.

DuVal High Class of 1969 -- July 17-19. http://www.classmates.comhttp://or http://www.GlennDaleGolfClub.com.

Anacostia High Class of 1959 -- July 18. Contact William Greene, Oceanfront@att.net.

Bladensburg High Class of 1969 -- July 18. http://www.bladensburgalumni.com.

Wheaton High Class of 1964 -- July 24-26. Contact Rick Greenfield, 301-946-3933, or http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/wheatonhs/alumni.