First Day of School

I wasn't entirely ready to relinquish my lazy summer days to the hustle and bustle of packing lunch boxes, signing papers, stuffing backpacks and cramming a healthy meal down sleepy eyed children's mouths.  I'd become quite friendly with Apple Jacks and bare feet.

The first day of school snuck (sneaked?) around the corner, whacked me upside the head, and took two of my boys away in a big yellow school bus.  I just wasn't prepared.  We didn't have our Back to School Feast or end of summer extravaganza.  We spent the last week of summer in Colorado so I didn't attend any Meet and Greets or Kindergarten registrations.  Summer was going along swimmingly, and then all the sudden the drain let out and we found ourselves thrust into a schedule and deadlines.


(Ever doing her part, Mother Nature decided to yank summer from my tightly clenched fist by dumping rain on the first day of school with temperatures hovering at 65 degrees.  No easing us in, just thrusting us off the cliff into another school year.)

So I had my hint(s).  Time to get back into the grind with stricter bed times and odd, unidentifiable odors emanating from lunch boxes.

My brand new big boy kindergartener donned his brand new spiffy "jogging shoes" (he already tested their "speediness" in the aisles of the shoe store), hoisted on his unblemished backpack (that looked like it could topple him over at any minute), tamed his unruly hair, and waited impatiently for the clock to reach 8:30 so he could run to the bus stop.

My seasoned second grader ate 3 eggs on toast (with the eggs on the side....I'm still trying to figure out why we don't call them "eggs on the side of toast"), secured his going-on-its-third year-dirty-backpack to his back, and played with Cora until I told him he had to leave her to go to catch his bus.

As Owen climbed up the very tall stairs into his bus and sat down in the second row, I could only see him from his nose up, face pressed against the window.  He looked so small, yet so confident.  He was still my baby with the giant blue eyes looking down at me as he excitedly waved goodbye. 

The juxtaposition of letting go but hanging on always comes to greet me on the first day of school.  I'm excited to send my boys into a new adventure where they will gain the skills and knowledge they need to grow up happy and well adjusted.  But I want to hang on to them and shelter them from things that little eyes and ears shouldn't hear or little hearts can't absorb.  

First day of kindergarten

First day of second grade

A brother's version of putting their arm around each other.

Kai rushing after them saying, "Wait for me!"  They didn't wait.

They made me proud on that first day.  The pair of them were intrepid explorers ready for their next great enterprise together as brothers/friends.  I sent my little men off and I could see they were confident and curious.  And then I looked over and saw Kai spinning Cora around in the stroller and I was brought back to reality.  I'll see them again in 8 hours, their heads crammed full of knowledge, no doubt.  And they'll be ready to cram their mouths full of snacks and take heartily from my stash of patience.