It Came Too Soon

I thought I would be running through the house doing the happy dance or going our for a latte or singing at the top of my lungs, but I am not doing any of that. Back-to-school came sooner than I thought.

This morning, I put my last child on the bus. She broke a tradition of me taking my children to school. She wanted to be a "bus stop girl" with the rest of the neighborhood. This year there was a little kindergarten boy who busted up the pink princess parade.

The girls woke up at 3am, too excited to sleep. They joined me down in the family room full of excited chatter about school. My baby girl even did a couple pages of her phonics. The big sister pointed out all the important things she would learn in kindergarten, I just wanted sleep. They eventually dozed off.

6:30am found them wide awake and raring to go. They dashed off to take morning "wake up" showers and put on their clothes that were carefully chosen a week ago. The second grader took special care to decide on her "look" now that she is a big kid. I could just smile and shake my head. It wasn't until the youngest was getting her hair combed that she laid her head on my lap, silently mourning her passing babyhood and quietly contemplating this big step in her life.

The high schooler, on the other hand, slept all night, having suffered through reading for Honors English during the last week of summer vacation. He just wanted to get it over with. I think he was nervous though because I didn't have to prod him out of bed at 6am. He changed his shirt three times before deciding on his studious sophomore look.

Ultimately, all the children had a successful start with backpacks and lunches ready. They were optimistic and enthusiastic about learning, that made me smile. The beginning of school is like a new beginning, a blank sheet of paper. I'm waiting to find out what my kids write!