Hal took the day off today so we could take Archer and Fable to school together, kiss them goodbye, peek through the window as Fable pulled her backpack around the chair she was assigned, took her seat for the very first time at big kid school...
First days are so anticlimactic in a way. Which makes sense, I guess, because by definition they totally are. I always expect them to be this huge deal where the music swells and everyone's running toward the morning sun in slow motion. I picture children floating off with balloons in their hands toward some surreal afterbabylife where teachers are clutching apples in one hand and books in the other and everyone is playing foursquare on a cloud.
But in reality, it looks like this: a hundred kids cautiously mobbing the jungle gym while parents huddle in groups on the blacktop, cameras cocked, hands adjusting loose ponytails and shoes untied... Until, of course, the teacher appears, asks the parents to say their goodbyes so that the kids can come inside and learn and have a wonderful day don't worry.
So we don't.
Ahem.
And then the door closes and the kids are all inside and all of us parent-folk just kind of stand there because we don't feel comfortable leaving right away and it's all very teenagers-hanging-out-in-the-711-parking-lot-because-what-else-is-there-to-do-on-a-friday-night...ish.
Hal and I were no exception, tripping over each other's feet/mumbling about "time, where did it go, etc etc" before finally making our way out of the yard. And after that to brunch to acknowledge all the what(s) that just when(ed).
And (because of course) what song should blast from the outside speakers the moment we sat down to eat our eggs and drink ourtears coffee? This one:
But in reality, it looks like this: a hundred kids cautiously mobbing the jungle gym while parents huddle in groups on the blacktop, cameras cocked, hands adjusting loose ponytails and shoes untied... Until, of course, the teacher appears, asks the parents to say their goodbyes so that the kids can come inside and learn and have a wonderful day don't worry.
So we don't.
Ahem.
And then the door closes and the kids are all inside and all of us parent-folk just kind of stand there because we don't feel comfortable leaving right away and it's all very teenagers-hanging-out-in-the-711-parking-lot-because-what-else-is-there-to-do-on-a-friday-night...ish.
Hal and I were no exception, tripping over each other's feet/mumbling about "time, where did it go, etc etc" before finally making our way out of the yard. And after that to brunch to acknowledge all the what(s) that just when(ed).
And (because of course) what song should blast from the outside speakers the moment we sat down to eat our eggs and drink our
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111 tracks (three years) ago, was the day Archer had his first day of Kindergarten. September 13th was the date. (A year later Bo and Revi would make their early entrance into the world.) So much significance in numbers and songs and firsts and also thirds.
Watching through windows, you're wondering if I'm okay + Time makes you bolder, children get older, I'm getting older, too + If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting...
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Fable looked so much older today which is I guess what happens when uniforms are put on and hair is changed for special occasions. (She wanted to wear her hair back in a ponytail and she chose to wear four clips instead of twenty and all the necklaces she picked out to wear today were left hanging on the doorknob where the light was left on. Again.)
It's wild to compare photos of first days on the same playground with different children. Archer and Fable are so different from one another. They're opposites, really. It's kind of like repeating all of the same milestones except upside down and in a completely different language -- the way they introduce themselves to teachers and shake hands with peers and go down slides and lay out their clothes...
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It's wild to compare photos of first days on the same playground with different children. Archer and Fable are so different from one another. They're opposites, really. It's kind of like repeating all of the same milestones except upside down and in a completely different language -- the way they introduce themselves to teachers and shake hands with peers and go down slides and lay out their clothes...
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I don't know all the things that happened at school today because Archer and Fable didn't tell us much. Just that they love their new teachers and their new classrooms and can't wait for tomorrow.
Which is pretty much saying it all, really.
Which is pretty much saying it all, really.
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P.S. I was hoping to find a PS22 Time After Time cover and found I'll Stand by You by The Pretenders instead. I hadn't watched this one before and couldn't not share it because children + great teachers = the best humanity has to offer.
Happy Back to School to all the kids out there who start school crazy early like ours do.
GGC
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