Day 200
It is Back-to-School time. Once again, school has begun and I’m left wondering several things …
The first being … isn’t it still SUMMER? I know we are not farm hands (most of us anyway) and the old school year of starting after harvest no longer pertains … but it is ingrained in me and it feels odd that kids go back to school before the Labor Day weekend is over.
My kids did it … and I, as a child, did not … so, I presume that is why it’s feels alien to me. Not natural. Even after all this time, it still doesn’t seem right.
Secondly … where the HELL did the last 20 years go? It was just yesterday when Ted was dressed (literally) head to toe … well, neck to toe as he didn’t have a hat on but he did have shoes … with ninja turtle outfittings. He was a TMNT nut … so, of course, the first day of school (kindergarten) had him toting TMNT everything … shoes, t-shirt, backpack, pencils, notebooks, pencil case and lunch box … even though he’d be coming home for lunch! Well, why not humor the kid, ya know?! Then 2 short years later … Sam was on her way in all her mermaid regalia. This time she was dressed from head to toe w/the outfit and the headband and underwear and you name it … if it was mermaid related, she wore it or carried it or had it! All that happened so long ago and yet it seems like it all happened in the span of a blink of the eye.
Thirdly … why aren’t there fun school supplies anymore? I went to find some fun things for my little neighbors and came up empty-handed. Where are the cute pencils and pencil holders? Why is everything plain or pink and black or have skulls on it? I want folders with cute baby seals and notebooks with puppies frolicking in a meadow. I want pencil toppers that are monsters with googly eyeballs or round sparkly fuzzy pom pom balls or animal shaped erasers. I was so disappointed!
And why is it when I think of BACK-TO-SCHOOL … I always envision falling leaves and girls in plaid dresses and puffy white clouds. I don’t know why I think of those things because for as long as I can remember, back-to-school days coincided with 90 degree days! However, it’s the picture I always get (in my mind) this time of year … those things are the visual. The smell of paste and the feel of oil cloth are the sensory memories. When, really, is the last time I felt an oil cloth? Or actually smelled paste? Probably a zillion years ago – back in kindergarten!
In any case, the kids around here and across the country have started back. New classrooms, teachers and friendships are the talk around the dinner table.
And it all makes me want to go buy myself a new box of crayons!