First Day of School

New clothes, new backpacks, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and untouched notebooks, getting up early, butterflies in the stomach.... oh yes, the first day of school has come and the kids could not be any more thrilled. But wait, don't forget the 10 large glue sticks, 10 black and blue pens, 5 red pens, 5 highlighters, three boxes of Kleenex, two rolls of paper towel, three large hand sanitizers, four 180-sheet tubs of baby wipes, gallon-size Ziplocs, plastic sandwich bags and two dozen other things to bring... are you sure it's school you're sending your kids to and not a donation drive?

I asked for my mother-in-law's opinion of what she thought about the kids' lists of "school supplies" to bring and even she, a seasoned teacher, thinks it's outrageous! I wonder how we, as kids, survived before the days of wipes and hand sanitizers? Mind-boggling. I don't even remember using highlighters until I was in college!!!

Anyway, there's no use in crying over spilt milk, so let's look at some of the highlights of the day, shall we? Sebastian got his cousin MM's old teacher whom she called "mean" and had the "orange hair." Only two of his old Kindergarten classmates are in this class but they were among his favorites so he didn't mind. Quality vs. Quantity! He saw his other buddy Jotham but since they're not in the same class, "they'll see each other in the cafeteria." Wow, they sound so grown up already! And it's only the first day!

Marissa and Jesie (my husband's cousin) will no longer be classmates but they seem to like the classrooms they both ended up in. Jesie announces that Jenna (Marissa's classmate from a couple years ago) is back but she's in her class so "awwwww" for Marissa. All of the girls in Jesie's class love the Jonas Brothers but she doesn't, so the boys like her for that. How's that for a tip to other sixth graders?!

As for MM, "Can I be dropped off at Jesie's?"

Oh, kids!