Friday, August 21, 2009

Camp B, Day Ten: School Day

Today was the last day of Camp B, and the biggest thing on all of our minds is Big B's first day of kindergarten, only three days from now (GULP). It seemed fitting to end a great two weeks with Camp B, Day Ten: School Day.

The tone for today was set yesterday afternoon, when we went to meet Big B's kindergarten teacher. We walked quietly, looking for his classroom, each of us processing this moment in our own way. Overwhelmingly, we were...excited.When we got there, Big B immediately began to play with new friends. As we oriented ourselves with Big B's classroom, his new friends, and his new teacher (appropriately, Mrs. B.,), we were given a list of school supplies to stock up on before Monday. Thus began our first activity of our last camp day, our last weekday without school. This was always a treasured and favorite time for me as a child. Filling my various organizational containers with brand new, never used creative implements was a rite of passage I looked forward to at the end of every summer. For this rite of passage, Big B was the list-keeper.
Aisles and aisles and parents and parents awaited us at the 'school supply' section of our local big box store. I LOVED it. I think Big B did too.
With our supplies in tow, we headed to our family office so that Grammy could give Big B a special pre-kindergarten haircut. Thank you, Grammy, for cutting Big B's hair for five years. Thank you for being patient during his wiggles. Thank you for being understanding of his impatience. He will one day remember that this is one of the many things you two shared.
When we got home, we unpacked Big B's school supplies and filled out his chore chart, to begin on Sunday. If I am really expected to get him to school at 8:15 every morning, we are ALL going to have to be held accountable to a certain measure of daily discipline!
Before bedtime, I hung his new backpack on the front door, full of his new supplies. Here's looking at one last summer weekend. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: these have been the best five years of my life.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The B est is yet to come!!!

Unknown said...

Sobbing after reading about your latest adventure, looking at little E, asleep in our bed, three days before first grade.

SwedeLife said...

Oh, I love school shopping and a fresh box of 64 colors. Cheers to a rite of passage for all of you. And 8:15, wow, got a special bag of sumatra beans to grind and put in a french press for mom's back to school supplies?

Michelle said...

*sniff* KINDERGARTEN. wow. and, mama, you are organized. i'm sure after a few days/weeks, that chart will be memorized and you'll be in a brand new school-time rhythm. 8:15am does seem early! 2 more days. :)

catching caterpillars said...

ohhh Laura... this is good.. really good. you have a way of writing things that we all feel and cannot put into words. sobbing really... I think the only way for us Mammas to get through these babies growing up so fast, is to be there for eachother.. it is hard but so rewarding and lovely