March 28, 2024

Column: Back to school

The day has come and my kiddos are now back in school. It is always a bittersweet day as it is exciting to see them grow and witness their enthusiasm for learning but always a little nerve-racking dropping them off on their own.

We started preparing for school way back on our family vacation. Near our resort in the Dells was an outlet mall, which contained a very exciting store for my girls, The Disney Store. After searching every inch of the store, the girls selected backpacks to use for school, The Little Mermaid for the oldest daughter and Rapunzel for the youngest.

We also got their school shoes, which have remained safe in their boxes until Monday. My oldest daughter got her first pair of tie shoes, hot pink Nikes, after she conquered tying them on her own. My youngest has a bright pair of rainbow, almost water color shoes that completely fit her personality. They both got new light up shoes, which they selected for their first day.

In late July, I took an opportunity I had to do a little shopping on my own to start collecting back to school clothes. I was happy to find a couple of pairs of legging that look more like jeans, since my girls refuse to wear real jeans. A smattering of long-sleeve and short-sleeve shirts, dresses and pants completed the haul, at least for now. It will always amaze me how fast they grow and how quickly they go through clothes.

For the past two weeks, my mom has started waking the girls up at 7 a.m. to prepare for back to school. Most days they seemed pretty chipper and typically made it out of the door in time to “get to school” by 8 a.m. The exercise did lead to some crabby moments and a couple of afternoon naps I haven’t seen in quite a while.

As the weekend came, the girls selected which clothes they wanted to wear on the first day, how they wanted to do their hair and what they wanted for breakfast. We’ve always decided to have them start bringing their own lunch on most days, since I think most of the food on my oldest daughter’s plate made it into the garbage last year. They each have a new lunchbox and water bottle and now I have the task of preparing lunch to send off to school, too.

The night before the first day of school didn’t go quite as planned. The girls were balls of energy, constantly out of bed and talking up a storm. My youngest finally fell asleep first, which is pretty typical, and after some cuddle time, my oldest was out, too.

In the morning, they didn’t exactly jump out of bed but for the most part, they were excited. With their new outfits on, hair done up, breakfast in their tummies and pictures taken, we were off to school.

I have to say I did a pretty good job keeping it together. It was a little chaotic, and for a while, I wasn’t sure where my oldest daughter was, but they each got to their rooms and were already chatting with friends when we left.

I am so excited to watch them learn and grow this year. I know it will go by faster than I can imagine so I’m going to try to soak it all in and enjoy the year.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson
at jpierson@newtondailynews.com