Today is the first day of school in Long Beach, CA. Such excitement in the air. Such traffic in the streets. Such adorable first day pictures on Facebook. I remember so clearly how much I loved the first day of school. There was the nervous anticipation in elementary school of finding out who my teacher would be (in the old days they didn’t tell you until that morning), and even more important, which of my friends would be in my class.
Once a year I got new clothes (ordered from the Sears catalog), so there was the excitement of staying up late the night before to pick out the perfect outfit, and then picking out a different one, and then wait, maybe that one is even better. Laying the clothes out neatly on my bed and crawling in carefully so I wouldn’t disturb them while I slept. The picking-out-clothes ritual persisted through high school and college and even now there are glimmers of it in my life–before a big party or interview or a first date (or second date, or third…). And even more than new clothes, there was the excitement of new pencils, new notebooks, a new book bag… To this day I prefer shopping for stationery supplies over clothes. (And I once actually had stock in Staples. But I digress.)
More nostalgically than my own school days, I miss my kids getting ready for their first day of school. The nervous anticipation after a summer of no responsibility, the ritual of picking out the perfect outfit (no uniforms for my kids), the first day of school photos, the excitement of seeing their friends after a long summer. My own excitement to get the house back for a few hours a day. So maybe that’s why I’m a little teary today. It’s a poignant Throwback Wednesday.
Happy school days; Happy birthday, Ken; Happy new outfits (and pencils) for everyone.
Sweeeeet…. I don’t much remember the clothes. What got me excited about a new school year was that I got new pencils, pens, markers, paper and most of all – notebooks! In 6th grade, we were allowed to have 3-ring binders, and THAT was a very big deal. I can still see the cover of mine, it had a dove, rainbow and peace sign on it, and I just thought it was the coolest thing in the store.
LOL… Don’t even get me started on the school supplies!! To this day, I’d prefer going to Staples over buying clothing. It’s such an important point, I updated my post. Thanks!