Copy Cat

In the crazed weekend before the big bad Yellow Daisy Festival, I took a few moments to quiet the humming of the sewing machine, sweep up some of the thread that had scattered like confetti all over the house and spend some time throwing a party for my family celebrating the milestone of the beginning of a new school year.

From back to school

From back to school

Usually, we have small fanfare - a new outfit, pictures and a homemade bag for the girls from fabric they selected. We pretend for the week before that we are getting onto the "school sleeping schedule" but none of us can part with the laziness of a summer morning where we are not expected anywhere but the pool, and even there we don't have to look presentable. We try to go to bed early, but we can't fathom letting a beautiful summer evening go by with out a bike ride or a dance in the family room.

And so, the first week of school, when we are left without a choice, we live on adrenaline for 2 days and then we get grumpy - by Thursday we are all melting down at 4 pm and by Friday the coping skills have disappeared as quickly as the flicker of the fireflies we chased in June.

This year, we added, because I totally copied Nie's idea, a Back to School Feast. When I told the children what we were doing, they wanted to know who was coming (apparently I haven't made them feel important enough on their own for having prepared a feast). I got excited as I baked a special cake and decorated the dining room, scattering smarties as much for the subliminal message as for their cool retro colors.

From back to school

Given our sense of humor, we had to incorporate a bit of it into the family theme - WALK OR FALL - based on a story we heard on NPR of a boy with polio whose dad doesn't baby him but inspires him to learn to walk. We made goals - someone's going to learn to read, someone's going to eat 3 vegetables every day, someone else is going to "not be smug" (bet you can't guess who!), someone else is going to work on prayer and someone else is going to do her "middle split" (definitely NOT me!!). We feasted on fondue and before we dug into the smarties cake, made wishes and blew out candles - one for every grade we enter this year.

From back to school

From back to school

And when the anxiety parted, and school began, here is what we found:

Kennedy is disappointed the new bus driver doesn't have a 5th grade section, I am disappointed we don't have the old bus driver

Ellie again has a class full of friends - I don't think there's a soul in that school she doesn't consider a friend, including the school nurse, who called right on schedule the first week

From back to school

Stevie came home with his name written by him on a paper. Since I spent a year trying to coerce him to just write an "S" I was a little surprised, so I asked how he knew how to write his name. He said, "it was on a box, so I just copied it". Oh, why hadn't I thought of that??

Wally loves his Joy School, we'll see how much JOY I'm feeling next week when it's my turn to host

And I redeemed myself from Loser Mother of the Year after the last day of school when I picked up the girls late with no fanfare and only the promise of a trip to the laundromat. The first day of school I met the bus with squirt guns and a trip to Breuster's for ice cream. So there!!!

From back to school