For the past two days, I stopped reading op-eds and blog posts on Katrina. Not because I was starting to become a creepy, obsessed blogger. I am quite happy being a creepy, obsessed blogger. No, I had to stop because I had to get the kids ready for school.
No talk about Katrina this afternoon (except do read this one post by Andrew Sullivan). Just kid stuff below the fold.
The first day of school is a big thing for kids, and you have to set up these rituals very carefully with stiff jeans and plastic pencil cases.
Yesterday, the boys and I had a Back to School Day. We went to Staples with a long list of supplies that the school said must be in Jonah’s backpack on the first day. Scissors. Pencils. Folders. Jonah got a haircut. Medical forms were dropped off with the pediatrician. Pizza and Italian ice in town. And then new sneakers at Payless. (I have always been disturbed that Payless is one word and not Pay Less. Doesn’t "payless" mean you don’t have to pay at all?)
The kids can be unwashed slobs for the rest of the year, but the first day must be pristine and smell of office supplies.
After taking pictures on the porch, we met the other children waiting for the bus at the corner. Some of the dads had camcorders to record the event. Jonah suddenly got a little nervous. He held my hand and told me that he loved me. A kiss and he was off. Ian watched the bus drive down Broadway, suddenly screamed that his beloved brother was leaving him, and started chasing the bus. Two of the moms started crying.
Ian was reassured with a cup of juice and then plopped in his car seat. He had to start his special ed pre-school today. When we pulled up to his school, he jumped out of the car and ran towards the school. "Excited boy. Excited boy," he said as he ran with jiggling cheeks. Two other kids were being forcibly removed from their mothers’ arms. Ian didn’t look behind him. He was ready.
On the way home, I picked up champagne and bagels. I had five neighborhood mothers over for mimosas and brunch. It was part celebration and part pity party. Bill from next door stuck his face in the window and said, "Hey, Desperate Housewives, stay away from the gardeners."
Another milestone family day where we turned entirely inward and neglected other pressures and demands of the world. It’s over. Time to return to work. When the buzz wears off.
Apt. 11d 
Mimosas and Bagels
As a non-kid person, I am not always a fan of mommy blogs–which I realize is a rather condescending term for some great blogging– but I can’t resist 11D because her writing is so smart and observations so keen. The
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I love that you celebrated with mimosas! It’s as much about the moms as it is about the kids. Toddler in Chief is still years away from his first day of school, but I already get choked up just thinking about it… then I think… hhmm.. mimosas just might be the perfect way to ease the pain 😉
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From where I’m sitting, “just kid stuff” is a wonderful break from the painful Katrina stories. Although I do recommend the story about the three guys from Duke who drove to the Convention Center in New Orleans last week and rescued some people on their own.
Anyway, who knew that jeans had to be stiff. (I knew about pencil holders.) But really, I had close to 200 students for the first day of a class today, and not a single one was heard uttering “excited boy” [or girl].
Thanks for a great image.
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I felt so sad and missed my girls all day! Your son’s “Excited boy!” made me smile. I don’t know what’s different about my 4 year old going to Pre-K rather than daycare, but it felt different. She came home all full of calendar talk and seemed 3 inches taller. “Sad Mom, Sad Mom!”
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My daughter saw a cartoon of moms yelling “yipee!” as the bus drove away with their kids on the first day of school and asked what all that was about. I think it’s a sad portrayal of parents wanting to be rid of their kids.
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The one thing I don’t like about my job as a teacher is that I really miss out on my children’s own first day of school. Their dad gets all that fun stuff, since he can take an hour from his job. I have to be here at school for other people’s children (which is a job I love). My children don’t start until next Tuesday, which is way later than the rest of the schools around here (where I teach we started on the 29th) and it is making everyone really ready for school. My 1st grader has been counting the days on her calendar, and my nursery schooler keeps asking “is today the day we go to school?” I love the images of Ian going from sad to “Excited Boy!”
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