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August 01, 2007
Almost School
It's August first and the days of summer vacation are winding down. My youngest goes back to college tomorrow. She won't start classes for a couple weeks, but she has a job interview and needs to move into a new place. Her fiends are all showing up to help. I remember those days.
I mentioned to someone yesterday that this will be the first year since I was six years old that I haven't started school. Every year of my school life and then every year of my work life I got ready for the first day of school. Either I got the cigar box and filled it with pencils, scissors, and paste then waited for the bus to take me to my new classroom, or I put up the bulletin boards, put the name tags on the desk, and waited for the children to arrive, or I met with the teachers, created the schedule, checked the budget, and visited classrooms the first month of school. It's been a ritual for as long as I can remember.
This year is different. I'm helping my daughter get off to college, paying for the other daughter's tuition, and, as I wandered through a used book store this week, wondering if there were books that might help my children's library as they plan their careers. I'm finishing up my newest book. The preschool standards are set to be released in September so I can have that version ready to go right away. I'm planning workshops and developing new ideas.
It's all good stuff and I enjoy it, but there is nothing like the excitement of watching children on the very first day of school. Whether it's me going to school with my cigar box, my own children getting on the school bus with their backpacks, or watching the children tumble into the classroom I've decorated and readied for them, the first day of school holds a thrill for us educator types like no other.
It's like the first day of baseball spring training or the first football practice. The season has begun. You know it. You feel it. The exctiement and training and love you have for the game is right on the surface. There isn't anything you can't do, won't try, and aren't ready for. It's what you live for every year. That's what it feel like. That's the way it is.
So this year if you find me lurking on a school campus somewhere breathing in chalk dust and counting noses, just smile and nod in understanding. The moment will pass and it will be October before we know it. The seasom will have moved into full swing and the ups and downs of reality will have set it. But the first day, the very first day holds such promise and exctiement for each and everyone who's involved.
Enjoy someone's first day of school. Whether it's you, your child, your grandchild, a neighbor's child or a classroom full of children, there's someone who's excitment you can share. Make it the best start you and a child has ever had.
Posted by Dr Joni at August 1, 2007 07:36 AM