Back to School – happy days for everyone!

It’s the first day of school in second grade for Teri in the top picture. She’s so cute with her notebook and lunch box. Was that a Barbie lunch box? Cindy posed for a few of the pictures, but in this one, she was tired of posing and walked off. It wasn’t her day anyway, so why should she stick around?

In the bottom picture, it’s the first day of school in first grade for Cindy and the first day in fifth grade for Teri. They both look so pretty and happy. I think I was looking pretty and happy also!

It was always an exciting time, getting ready for a new school year. We would shop for all the supplies they needed and plan out what clothes they would wear the first day and days after that. I don’t think these days they give as much thought to their clothes – do they even wear dresses anymore in grade school? I enjoyed those days and miss the feeling of being needed to get the girls ready for school. I guess I just miss being needed. But when school started, I was free to do all the things I wanted to do. I did a lot of sewing clothes for the girls, I watched soap operas, I took care of my many rose bushes, I watched over my goldfish and frog in my fishponds, I took care of our duck, Bonnie, and our goose, Clyde. I also had two box turtles in the living room in a plastic swimming pool. One of them laid an egg, so I nurtured it along for months but it never hatched. Guess my mothering skills left something to be desired at least where turtles were concerned. But wait . . . I did all those things even when the girls were home, so my life didn’t change all that much except for the fact I didn’t have the girls helping me with the outside chores which were fun for all of us. I did have more time to visit with my neighbor gals as most of them didn’t work outside the home. You can see that was a long, long time ago! We’d get together for coffee in the morning sometimes and maybe a little wine in the afternoon or vice versa – whatever we felt like. Those were good times, but they’re gone. At least I have good memories of those days and will never forget them.

Now I don’t even know just what day is the first day of school. All I know is that I have to be careful and watch the speed limit around schools. I do that all year anyway as I’m never sure if a school is having summer school, sports camp, gymnastic workouts, ballet classes, Yoga classes, AA meetings, Pilates classes, sex education for seniors, sex education for juniors, sex education for immigrants and so on. There are so many reasons for the schools to be busy all summer, so I just try to drive the required speed limit all year. Sometimes I’m sure people behind me get mad, but it’s better to save a little old lady’s life who is crossing the street just to find out which sexual positions are now in style for seniors than to run her over. We all have needs and she deserves the best. So I’m careful, and I hope everyone else is.

So I hope this school year is a good one for all the kids and parents. If not, there is always next year. I have three grandsons – two in college and one in middle school. I wish I could have given each of them a Barbie lunch box to make the first day perfect for them, but I’m sure they’ll do quite well without them.