And The First Day Of School Tradition Continues...SMILE!

As I said all the year of 2012, it was going to be a long year for a lot of new first's. The year 2013 is going to be no different for me.
Last year was about a lot of endings. This year will be about not only how those new endings are affecting me now, but how the new beginnings that came after, are developing.

As I signed onto Face Book this morning I was over taken by the amount of pictures flooding my news feed. Not Happy Friday postings, or TGIF postings, or what are you doing this weekend postings, but picture postings. More specifically, the first day of school picture postings.

This will be the first time in 22 years I have not had a child standing in my doorway or on my sidewalk taking a first day of school picture. Standing there all smiles, or not, depending on the age of course. Ages five through twelve, you can pretty much count on a smile of some sort. Thirteen through eighteen, the growls begin. The frowns, the scowls, and the shoulders bowed, arms crossed stance. For boys anyway. Girls I have found are ALWAYS ready for a picture to be taken. Boys, not so much.

The new school year is about to begin. For the beginners it will be a year of learning to share, that you are not always first, how to be a part of maintaining order, to pick up what you got out, that circle/story time is a time for listening, and that nap times are for real in kindergarten. Some of these things may have already been learned at home or prior day cares by some, but not by all, and adjustments will be new and sometimes difficult at first.

For everyone else, it's about who your new teachers are, will you like them, how cool your book bag is, picking out your newest best outfit for the first day, finding your classes, remembering your locker combination, will all your old  friends still be at your school, who the new kids will be and will everybody like me. Am I pretty enough, funny enough, and smart enough.

For parents, it's another year of memories about to unfold. So many unknowns that are about to happen. For some, the endless homework assignments begin the first day. In this respect, it's back to school for Mom and Dad as well. The lists of school supplies comes home and the rush to Wal-Mart and Target begins. The enforcing ritual of homework and supper first, television last begins again. And the bedtime curfew rears it's ugly, argumentative head once more as well.

But all of this also brings structure back to everyone's lives. Now don't get me wrong, every single school year I was SO ready for summer. I was tried of fussing about homework, studying, projects and deadlines. Tired of finding out about everything at the last minute and racing to the nearest place in town to get a poster board and markers for a project due in 24 hours. But every Fall, I was also ready for school to return to our lives. The roaming at will stopped. Supper was at a regular hour for everyone to sit down together again. And once more everything seemed to have a schedule of sorts. And for the most part, even children like structure and are ready to get back to it. They carry on and whine a bit about it, but they're just as ready to get back to the business of life as we are, after all, school is sort of their 'job' if you will, until real life comes along.

So Happy First Days Of School to one and all. May it be the very best it can be for the all the children, and may the stories they bring home to their parents be bright and full of life and excitement for all there is to come. And for goodness sake, share your pictures and stories if you will, after all, I'm living through you now.