Hey! Psst … parents! School starts soon!

Thank goodness. 

I love my kids, truly I do, but this summer seemed to both fly by and creep along. The beginning of summer was a blur of ball games and swimming lessons and gardening, but the last couple weeks have brought a slower pace to our home. Part of it is the scheduling let-up and part of it is the heat, which has kept us indoors more than we had anticipated. The kids have been displaying signs of cabin fever the last week or so, which can only mean that it is time to go back to school!

As a kid, I salivated the three days before the school year started. I organized my school supplies, labeled everything, looked at them, put them away, and took them back out to look at them again. I couldn’t wait to crack the spine on a textbook, rousing it from the summer slumber with my eager fingers. All I wanted to do was compare schedules and plan where to sit in the cafeteria for lunch.  I think that, so far, I’ve passed this excitement on to my kids.

I have a Kindergartener and a second-grader this school year and they are both very excited to get back into the classroom. My son, the second-grader, cannot wait to show his sister the ropes. My daughter is happy to be starting Kindergarten, but a little disappointed that my son won’t be in her class. We went school supply shopping last Sunday and it was a crazy scavenger hunt for stuff as they raced to see who could get everything on their list first. (Now I need to find the list again so that I can sort out which stuff belongs to whom).

I scored a home run when it came to back-to-school clothes shopping as I picked out a new pair of shoes for my son and a couple of shirts that he just loves. So much so that he was hanging out in shorts and a hoodie for a while on Sunday.  My daughter was thrilled to pick out a new outfit for the first day of school, though I did have to talk her out of a very fancy dress with lots of tulle and sparkles by reminding her that she would be on the playground three times each day for recess and a fluffy dress just wouldn’t hold up to the punishment of the recycled tire mulch.

I’ve printed the lunch menu and talked to them about making good choices at lunchtime. I know most of that advice will go out the window because who doesn’t eat the desserty stuff first when mom’s not right there? And we’ve gone over bus safety and classroom procedures. My son rolls his eyes, but I remind him that his sister has never done any of this before.

The date is circled on the calendar. The backpacks are stuffed with labeled supplies. The kids have new clothes and shoes. I’ve got them registered and paid all the fees. What’s left?

Oh, yeah … six days. Let’s hope we can make it through the next almost-week to the finish line. We’re almost there…

What are your back-to-school rituals? Are your kids anticipating that new-school-year smell as much as mine are? What is your favorite thing about going back to school?