School Day, School Day, Good Ol' Golden Rule Day...

Today is my next-to-last First Day of School!

I'm elated, yet a little sad just the same.

I remember Julz first day of school. She was so excited and she loved learning. That was up until 4th or 5th grade when one of her teachers called her "lazy." Then she never loved learning like she did in those early years. And that teacher never taught again at MMS. Today, she is in her second semester at nursing school.  Not far off the dream of being a doctor that she had once held so dear. She was like a little sponge, though learning at her own pace. I think back to the time when  her educational boat was blown off course for a short period of time and I want to punch that teacher in the mouth.

I remember Tigger's first day of school the year that him and Kit-Kat came to live with us. He was very excited and loved to read. As a matter of fact, all he did was read and play with his Pokemon cards and doodle on ever scrap of paper he could find. He starts his Senior year today. Where did my little boy go?

Kit-Kat was still a little standoffish that year. She wasn't really sure what to make of the whole situation. I remember one of her first projects was to make a collage to help the teacher get to know her better. I remember it showed her dressed as Snow White, it showed her playing in the yard with her Barbies, she showed off all of her play shoes.  Those were the days.  I still have that poster, and look at it every now and again and wonder where the time went.

I spent the weekend trying to round up the summer reading books. Tigger read both of his in two days, "Dracula" and "War of the Worlds."  Kit-Kat had still not started hers, but I was fascinated by the subject matter. I should finish it tomorrow. =)

Today, I stood in the hall and sang out loud for one of the last two times I will do it:  "School Days, School Days, Good Ol' Golden Rule Days!"  That's all I've ever known of the song, but it was enough.

It was a tradition started by my mother. We would be eating breakfast and she would breeze through and sing this verse to us. She didn't know the rest of the song either. Even though we really didn't want to hear it, no First Day of School was ever complete without it. 

I carried on that tradition myself, though no one at my house wants to hear it either these days.

I wonder if they will miss it when they are grown?
I wonder if they will sing it themselves when their little ones start school?

~En-JOY