The last few weeks all talk on the tv, at family get together’s, and on Facebook has turned to back to school excitement. All the traditional markers are hit! There are perfectly pressed uniforms being bought. The school supplies on the lists are being snapped up at all the local stores. Backpacks with the latest, and coolest, characters lay empty but standing tall waiting for all the clean sheets of paper and notebooks and folders. It really is an exciting time! I remember it well from when I was a child, but I remember it even better from the first 6 years my girls were in public school!
There was nothing like the excitement of the night before school starting. They picked their favorite pairings of the uniforms along with hair bands and belts and laid them all out so they would be easy to grab the ext day. I would stay up late labeling all the clean and brightly colored binder, spirals, and crayon boxes. Of course there was also the first day of school lunch to pack, which is always fabulous and healthy. I also remember swearing I would keep that going all year, every year…..I usually made it about two weeks! First day mornings those kids would spring out of bed like a jack in the box! Some years dressed and ready to go before I was out of the bed good.A special breakfast was cooked and the first day pictures were taken….
Didnt they look precious? Then off they went to new adventures….
Then the wait. I was so excited to hear all about their day. Now, the second day they didn’t jump out of bed quite so quickly ;)
Everything from the TV shows kids watch to books they read to the commercials running during those favorite shows tell the kids that the ways we had always known are the way it works…
There is much (normal?) to miss and I am a traditions kinda girl. I have traditions for everything, and I get very upset if something spoils one! While the decision to home school is something I would not change traditions hold a strong and special place for me and are tough to let go!
The girls for their part know what they have given up and choose it with a knowing heart. They love it and wouldn’t change it, I know because they are asked often. But Justin. No TRADITIONAL first day fun? That made me a little sad. So what’s a mama to do?
Make NEW traditions! Of course we have our first day of school traditions where we roll out curriculum and get our nose to the grindstone, but there is an excitement in the air all over the place for the first day of public school! The need for tradition is strong, so here’s what we came up with…….
Well the pictures are still a must, and while we might not have well pressed uniforms we DO have very comfy ones!
Then we head out for a fun day! Last year and this year this is a HUGE skating party full of friends. Who wouldn’t get excited about that?!
Oh wait…it CAN get better! Just add water. Last year it was nana’s pool with a close circle of friends, this year the circle of friends is too big! We are heading to Preseys Lake to be able to have fun with ALL the friends! Oh….and cookies…because everything is better with cookies.
And even though they are right with me all day there is much I miss (since I spend most of the day visiting with friends myself! LOL) so I still spend the late afternoon of the “First Day of School” hearing all about their day.
This is our new normal and we really enjoy it, but I think there will always be a small twinge for that first day fun and anticipation. So just a heads up, I fully intend to live vicariously through my friends and family as they post finding out who the teachers are going to be, school eve clothes and supplies laid out, and those first day of school pictures…….and I will enjoy it all the more with my toes in the sand….. ;)
