The First Day of School

Monday was the first day of school here in Dallas, and it is always a big deal at our house.

Although our three kids were less than enthusiastic about returning to the "daily grind," I have to say that my husband and I were quite happy to send the children off on their new adventures with new teachers and new classrooms. And though the kids said the first day of school was "boring," I know they enjoyed seeing their old friends again.

Personally, I don't know why my kids aren't excited to go back to school.

I have happy memories of heading back to school with new leather school shoes, new clothes and new plastic lunchboxes. When I was older, I agonized over what to wear on the first day, and I'd walk to school with a head full of anticipation and my arms full of new Pee Chee folders. It was always so fun to see who had grown taller, who was new, and who had changed the most over the summer.

OK, I wasn't your typical kid; I liked school -- the freshly sharpened, pointy pencils that smelled like wood, the clean, white paper, and new textbooks to read. I remember blackboards and squeaky chalk and the smell of that purple ink on the ditto machine handouts. Nowadays my kids' schools are astonishingly high-tech, with laptops, computerized whiteboards and multimedia projectors. Going in a classroom now makes me feel ancient.

But my kids still have new shoes, new folders and those butterflies in their little stomachs.

And now, decades later, it's still one of my favorite days of the year.

Happy Back-to-School Day!!!