Riiiiiight.
And, excuse my ignorance, but what the heck are senior year essentials?
Well, nothing that is really "essential" but somehow he and his mom thought it was...
They include...class ring...senior portraits...announcements...cap and gown rental...the parents page in the yearbook...
All of which I'm sure set my parents back no more than $200 for the whole year.
We went with the minimum for the yearbook thing. There are actually parents who spend $800 for a full color page. IMHO they're idiots.
As for the senior portraits, I let the Mrs. handle the arrangements for those. Let's just say I shouldn't have.