A Day NOT at School

Today was the first day of school for so many kids and teachers out there. There is a saying that the two best days of school are the first day and the last day. No truer words have ever been said.

Audrey woke me up at 6:30 this morning. This is earlier than usual, so I wasn't a happy momma. I brought her in to our room and we played for a little while. I finally let her eat breakfast. As per routine, I open up the blinds in the window across the dining room table that looks onto our yard and the elementary school across the street. I typically enjoy watching those dedicated morning joggers and the hustle and bustle of people scurrying off to work. Today, I got to enjoy watching entire families walking to school, anxious about the year ahead of them.

What struck me was this. These kids with backpacks looked soooo young! I am used to thinking 6th graders were the small kids at school. I watched 4 and 5 year olds bounce down the sidewalk and cross the street with the sweet, old, crossing-guard lady. Then I would put a spoonful of baby food into Audrey's mouth. These last 8 months have flown by and I know that I will blink and find myself taking Audrey's first day of school picture in front of our beautiful tree in the front yard.

I did not contemplate too long that this is the first August in 24 (?) years that I was not in a classroom. I did not go over the excitement of meeting the 130-160 students that will be your responsibility everyday for the next 180 days. I didn't really relish the freedom that I now have. What I did was come very close to shedding a tear for how quickly my little girl will grow up. And, btw, Becky, your blog and video did not help things! :) So, say a prayer for your children -that you will cherish each moment and raise them so that they are confident and ready for their first day of school.

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On a side note - Did anyone see what happened to me at church Sunday? We feed Audrey those star puffs during church to keep her as quiet as possible. These puffs become a nasty, soggy mess once they touch her mouth. Since Audrey insists on being the one to put the puffs in her mouth, sometimes they get in and come back out. This can create quite a mess. I was so proud of her yesterday. I didn't see a single puff fall from her mouth and her hands were staying pretty clean. What I didn't see was that a puff had fallen and was hiding behind a bow on her dress. She was sitting in Michael's lap, facing us. She looks down, sees the puff, and proceeds to THUMP the puff off of her dress. I see this random object shoot across the air. The soggy, gross, and apparently very sticky puff strikes me in the neck and stays! It was like I was in a movie, sitting in the forest, minding my own business, when a native shoots me with a poisoness dart in the neck! I peeled the puff off of my neck and made Audrey eat it. Michael and I were trying to suppress our giggling, since this happened at a very inopportune time. Isn't that always the case at church? Can you imagine if it had hit someone else on our pew? How embarrassing!