Back to School

My favorite movie quote... and probably the only movie quote I know...

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms." - Joe Fox [Tom Hanks], You've Got Mail.

I do love this time of the year. And I love buying school supplies!

As a kid, I loved getting to go shopping to buy some new clothes & picking out an outfit for the first day of school. I loved buying notebooks & pencils & folders... and color coordinating them. I anxiously awaited the day my teacher/class schedule arrived & quickly called my friends to compare. I packed my backpack weeks in advance and counted down the days until the first day... which at the time was always the first Wednesday after Labor Day.

Now that I have a child in school, I am again eagerly awaiting the first day of school... and so is she. Unfortunately, her school is the last one in the area to start. I have to say the past week has gone by so slowly. Almost everyone we know has already gone back to school, some more than two weeks ago. The Tumbleweed asks at least twice a day how long it is before she gets to go to school.

So, in the meantime, I have been trying to fill the "extra" time while everyone else is in school. Against my best judgment, I waited to do our back-to-school shopping until after September 1. It practically killed me. Although, she doesn't really have a back-to-school list so we just needed to get a new back pack, a couple of pairs of shoes, and a few "cool weather" outfits. I am kicking myself over the back pack - since she had picked out a very practical & cute one from Lands End, but it was back-ordered by the time we went to get it. But, the one she did get was on 50% off sale, so I suppose that helped.

And, on the first Wednesday after Labor Day, I got to go to school ... for parents' orientation night. It was good to meet the teachers and see her classroom before the craziness of the first day. I am still a little apprehensive about the school year. It is hard to make decisions for your kids. Did I choose the right school? Should I have done mornings instead of afternoons? Is she going to like her teachers? Is she going to make friends? But I feel better knowing that she is super excited to go - and doesn't seem to be worried about anything.

So anyway, things haven't changed over the years ... I have been "planning for fall" since school got out in June, and was practically jumping for joy the week that the YMCA Fall Schedule came out so I could "put together the puzzle" of our weekly activities. I enjoyed picking out the perfect outfit (for her, not me). I am "scouting locations" for first day of school pictures.

And, I am still counting the days until school starts...

4 days to go!