This school year, my mom will have two college students, one high school freshman, one-sixth grader, and one-second grader. Normally, my mom has my dad's assistance with the school year, but this year will be our first year without our dad. Our dad recently passed away this summer, so this school year is going to be a little different than most, but overall, our school years are hectic and busy and they never stop anyway.
1. The first day breakfast
There is a tradition in our house and it is one of the favorites of the school year. We make homemade breakfast every first day of school. My dad used to be the one to make us breakfast while us girls got ready for school and our mom got ready for work. However, this year, my mom's the one making breakfast and there are only three girls actually starting back on the exact day. However, me and my other sister, who don't go back for a week and a half, the perks of college, are getting up and eating breakfast with everyone. Even though 6:30 a.m. is awfully early, sometimes you do what you have to do to keep traditions alive.
2. The first day picture
GiphyAnother tradition in our house is the first day of school picture. Us girls prefer breakfast, but Mom commemorates the start of the new school year with a picture. We have a love/hate relationship with it. But let's be honest: who doesn't like posing in their new school clothes for pictures that you can post all over your social media? It is very cliché and so overdone, but if it makes Mom happy, then we don't argue too much.
3. The first day itself
Thankfully this year I won't have to sit threw the boring first day of school. But we all know how it goes. You go to homeroom, they assign you a locker, you put your supplies in said locker. Then you get your schedule, you go to your classes you may or may not start taking notes. Some teachers will start teaching others will just play games or tell you to sit quietly after they hand out text books. And in the elementary school, they will more then likely play out side most of the day. So, why do we have a first day of school again?
4. Pick-up time
Everyone has the same feelings about the school pick-up and drop-off lines. THEY ARE HORRIBLE! They take forever to get through and you want to slam your head on the steering wheel until the helicopter mom finally pulls forward. It really is not a hard concept. Unbuckle, put your backpack on, give hugs and kisses, and then when the car comes to a stop, open the door and walk into the school. Parents, siblings, grandparents, a word to the wise: you DO NOT have to watch your children walk into the school building! They are perfectly capable of doing it themselves and you watching them holds everyone else up. And there is nothing wrong with them already having their stuff and and being ready to go, because you are moving at a snail's pace, so no one can get hurt. So please, do us all a favor, and move the line along.
5. "Mom's" homework
It's a joke in our house that, the first day of school, us kids don't get the homework—our mom does. It really isn't homework, but it's more like paperwork. It's always the same paperwork for each child that has to be filled out every year. The agreement of the student handbook, the free or reduced lunch form, the gray cards (emergency cards), the insurance information, the "what you need to know about my child," it's never-ending, especially when my mom had all five of us in public school at one time. But now, it's just three, so hopefully it will be a bit better.
6. The after-school bedtime
At the end of the first day of school, everyone is very tired. In reality, I'm not sure because a lot doesn't happen on the first day. But once everyone comes home that evening and you've had dinner, the sleep you get that night is the best. Going to bed the first night after school is the best. You sleep soundly and then you wake up the next morning refreshed and ready to do it all again.
Unfortunately, this doesn't even begin to describe just how hectic our school year can be. But it does give a very good look into what life is like in the first day of school in the Price household.
Eternal Peace.
