It appears to be that time of year.  Yesterday, specifically for this area anyway.  While dreadful for some, others were filled with excitement and eagerness.  Summer is over and it’s “Back to School”.  While I didn’t have the pleasure of mingling with the hordes of people in Walmart, deliberating over the perfect backpack, racing to snatch up the last composition book, or negotiating the back-to-school clothes; I do not look forward to the traffic.  I live on a road with three schools within a mile and a half.  (I thought it was a good idea while I HAD children in school)  There will be a zillion parents rushing their kids to school while frantically trying to get to work on time, teenagers racing to the high school after their last minute 7-11 run for an energy drink, and buses – lots and lots of buses.  My eight minute commute will easily turn into a twenty or thirty minute commute on a good day.  Oh, how I love the summer!

Good-bye pool.   Ooops – wrong post.

This time of year DOES make me remember the days when my babies went off to school.  There was always a mixture of anxiety and excitement for both the kids AND us parents.  Neither quite sure if we really want to let go.

Nonetheless, I made a tradition out of the first day of school.  I took a photo of them in front of the front door each and every year whether they wanted to or not.   And each year, I could see how they’d grown.  That is, in fact, how I put them in order.  Because at the time, I thought I was going to remember every little single thing that would ever happen to my children; names, dates, times, etc..  I didn’t need to write anything down.  No silly little details for me.  THAT, my friends, was while I was YOUNG and still had a brain.  Now I suffer from CRS (Can’t Remember Shit).  So now I have to look at how tall they were to tell about what grade they were in. 

But these I WILL remember forever.

Do you see these babies?  God love ‘em!  Aren’t they just precious?!  That’s my littlest going off to Pre-school and my oldest going off to Kindergarten.  (This was BEFORE the oldest’s tears at the bus stop.  He was still a little excited here.)

This is my youngest going off to first grade and oldest going into third grade.  I think this was the year that he finally stopped crying at the bus stop.  He didn’t want to appear like a little weiner in front of his LITTLE brother (who couldn’t wait to get to school).

I don’t have pictures of my oldest getting on the bus that first day because he was screaming his fool head off while I was trying to coax him gently onto the bus.  Actually, I was frantically trying to get him calmed down so the bus driver wouldn’t feel compelled to throw him out a window.  After about a month of this, I finally gave up on the sweet gentle pleas of “Honey, you LOVE your teacher.” and “Sweetie, your friends are there waiting for you.”.  It went from the gentle touch to “Sshh it up and get your ass on the bus!”  (Maybe I didn’t say “ass”, but I was thinking it)  And I swear to you, he was fine everyday after that.  Tough love.

My youngest was my little social butterfly.  He loved school!  He couldn’t wait to get on the bus and get to school. . . . when he was little.  So I have pictures of him then.

So tiny and such big steps.

While my boys are grown with my oldest having just graduated from college (thank God), I feel a little lost without all the back to school hubbub.  So I thought I would just remenice instead.

Because now, they’re not so tiny anymore.