Ah, it’s that time of year again…the first day of school. Picture children everywhere splashing milk into their cereal bowls at 7:00am then strapping on their backpacks. Picture big yellow school buses buzzing through neighborhoods like low flying bumble bees that pause at street corners as if to pollinate flowers. Recall the smell of Crayola crayons, pencil shavings, and damp, mimeographed worksheets, the pulpy feel of newsprint, and the taste of milk straight from a carton. School is back in session. In my memory, the morning air on this first day of school should have been crisp, but it was hot instead, a summer day arbitrarily designated to mark the beginning of fall. In compensation, school children will have recess, friends to play with, and new teachers to become acquainted with. Their parents will have peace and quiet, until after school when their children will be chattier than usual and very emphatic, excited and exhausted at the same time, and, to a certain extent, resigned.
At our house this morning, alarms started going off at half hour intervals beginning at 5:30. First, Tom (for zero hour seminary), then Abby (her first day of junior high), then Scott, then Emily, then me. Clothes were already laid out, of course, for the first day of school, and backpacks, lunch money, and water bottles were all ready to go.
On the first day of school we’re firing on all pistons like a well oiled machine. Everyone knows where both shoes are and has matching socks, for example, but time will inevitably prove the entropy theory again, and things will be in “perfect internal disorder.” We will achieve a sort of equilibrium verging on chaos soon where one forgotten but essential load of laundry will threaten everything else.
But today – today went quite well, and I am blogging again.
3 comments:
This could only have been written by a very experienced mother. Funny how you thought this morning worked like a well-oiled machine when I had to turn my 4-door sedan verison of a school bus around to pick up a missed trumpet. But I guess, otherwise, it went pretty smoothly.
Well if the trumpet and all kids made it to school on time, dressed, with all their supplies. It was a huge success by my book.
~Leah
Picture Emily (mine) crying when I try to drop her off at school...picture not knowing where to go and mean ladies shouting orders at you... picture nervous tummies and a basket-case mom...
Florida's no Utah and school isn't just across the street anymore. Sigh...
Actually my kids were 4 days late to school as we were stuck in Utah (following a family reunion) because of the pending Hurricane. On the real first day of school, we were at a Utah urgent care having Emily's arm put in a cast after breaking it falling off a trampoline the day before. So our first day of school was everyone else's 5th day of school and we were lost.
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