Back To School Weirdness

For the first time in over a decade, I was left home alone on the first day of school.  All my babies left on school buses for the first time since I became a parent.  And it was weird.

It's weird because I miss them so much but not enough to be up for homeschooling or anything like that.  It's weird because it's an end of an era, an end of a season of my/our life.  It's not bad, it's just weird and bittersweet and unsettling and exciting and new and a little uncomfortable and ahhhhhhh.

I can't say that I love this new phase yet (it's only been two days!). I love watching who my kids are becoming and learning to parent them in new ways and hearing about their days at school. But I would not be truthful if I didn't say I don't miss when they were younger and told me everything and we had long lunches and did crafts in the afternoon and a few of them napped and waaaaa.

They still humor me with back-to-school traditions that I started over 10 years ago before I was on Facebook and Instagram and had a blog.  The traditions aren't fancy--a poster board and a sharpie to document the grade and the date.  

I love these traditions, and all of our traditions.The kids may think I'm a little wacky and a couple of the older kids may roll their eyes and that's okay. But I'm going to keep doing them. These traditions ground them/us/me. They are are a rite of passage and a goofy good time and great for the scrapbooks (I mean if I made scrapbooks).  

Wade thought it would be cool to wear his backpack as a frontpack and I kind of loved it.

I found this pic on the camera (JT took it) and I thought it was a pretty good pic  because it looks like I'm laughing.

Tim made it home from work before the little boys got off their bus after the first day of school. And he got a chance to talk to Lucy about her first day of middle school.

It was Wade's dream to ride the school bus. He LOVED it.

Wade loves kindergarten

Goofy, cheap poster boards are the tradition and so is Pencil Cake.  I've made the pencil cake every first day of school since Peyton was in kindergarten.  After JT was diagnosed with Celiac disease in 2010, I had to change the recipe to make it gluten free. It still tastes great!

I like making a big deal out of things.  I like making things more special.  I love sharing these moments with my family.  I love being with these kids (even when the squabble over who gets the eraser part of the cake).

I'll get used to all the weirdness of having all the kids in school and getting older and growing up. I will.  But I refuse to stop making pencil cake and posing my kids in front of signs and doing a night-before-the-first-day-back-to-school-dance (to this song)....no matter how old they get.