First Day of School

[*inviteseller]

Does anyone else have the blues about school starting?  What rituals do you and your family do for the new school year?

For us, it is The Talk the night before ...what manners do we use, how do we answer or ask a question (my younger DD blurts everything out without raising her hand), how we introduce ourselves to new classmates.  And since my 18 ye old DD started school I have always woken them up with the Happy First Day of School to You song (sung to the tune of Happy Birthday).  And I will cry tomorrow as the bus pulls away..my DD told me she is a big girl now, but she is still my baby and as much as I am ready for a break from constant togetherness, I still get all weepy.

[magiccat26]

Kitten (now 5th grade!) always has a brand new backpack and lunchbox.  She dresses up for the first day, so the night before we set out her outfit and shoes, wash and dry her hair, pack her backpack and lunch, and make sure she has her water bottle.  We also got mani and pedis yesterday to match her outfit.

In the morning, I will fix her hair (flat iron) and help her with her jewellery.  I will wake her up early and make sure she has breakfast.  She may even get to wear a little lip gloss.  This is the only day I will wait at the bus stop with her to see her off.

[afbluebelle]

I always sing It's The Most Horrible Time of the Year when I go back to school shopping. Dang sales still depress me even if it no longer means the end of my summer vacation.

the young one had his first day of kindergarten this year, so he got a new backpack and was happy to go to big boy school. He towers over most of the second graders, so I got a good laugh at that one.

[MommyPenguin]

It's not the first day of school for us, but there's still a feel of "back to school" because so many other people we know are getting back to school.  So I made a little picture thing for my oldest daughter.  It has her picture on the left, and then on the right it says "first grade!" and her name, and then lists things like "favorite food is ice cream," "best friends are ariana and emma," "favorite activities are riding bikes and playing LEGOs."  In the far right corner, I wrote 2013.  I'm going to make one for each of the girls, even, I think, for the baby ("best friend is Mommy," "favorite food is arrowroot cookies," "favorite activities are eating paper and eating cardboard," "latest accomplishment is standing up while holding onto things").   I'm going to *try* to make one for each girl each year.  It would be really fun to put them together when the girls are older, so they can see how they've grown and how their tastes have changed.

[RegionMom]

Mommy warning-

STAY ON TOP OF ALL THOSE GREAT IDEAS!!!

I have a senior now, and I know I need photos for the senior bulletin board for "guess whose baby pic this is" and our yearbook allows each senior a few photos from childhood. 

I have the lovely collage frames for school photos K-12, but do I have the photos ready to go in?

Nope!

Do I know where all the cute and funny pics and ideas and videos are?

Nope!

So, keep track NOW, and you will not go crazy for Oh So Many Reasons later!

 

[Sheila Take a Bow]

My daughter started kindergarten this year.  I took a picture of her by the sign outside her school.

A friend saw my picture and told me that next year, I need to take a picture in the same spot, but with my daughter holding up one finger for first grade, and keep doing that every year.

She's done that with her son, and now she has a scrapbook page of his first day of school pictures.  (He's in fifth grade, and she's not sure she's going to keep making him do that when he's in middle school next year.)

[m2kbug]

Picture taking around middle school is soooo embarrassing, Mom!  I had walkers in grade school, so I got a full picture spread up to the classroom, but toned it down a little later, just grabbing pictures out the front door.  I managed to get a bus stop picture for the teeny-boppers, not that it went over all that well.  Definitely a really good idea to hold up the fingers! 

My biggest thing I dread is all that paperwork and stuff you have to fill out.    

We have a "year round" schedule, which means a shorter summer break, and it seems year upon year, back to school just really creeps up and blindsides me.  We've already been back for a month now, and right now everything's going on sale.  We miss the sales...time to stock up, though.  We always need more school stuff.

With the larger campus with junior high and high school, we've been walking the campus at orientation to make sure everyone knows where to go.  This year was the first year I sent everyone loose to do it with their friends.  Some parents just dropped them off.  I hung out in the office and waited wishing I brought a book.   

[Roe]

We homeschool but we "officially" kick off the new year next week.  We still take "first day" pics, only my son is usually in comfy clothes.  

My other son goes to public school and yes, I take first day pics of him as well.  First day of school always means all new clothes...every bit. Even with the homeschool kiddo, he'll be getting a new pair of pj's for the first day.  And I'll take his picture with his new grade curriculum and books. 

First days are always fun!  It doesn't matter how one schools, it's always fun to mark the occasion of a new year. 

[gmatoy]

I'm the one going back to school; I'm a teacher! I am always glad to end a school year and happier to start a new one!