One of My Favorite Days of the Year

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. And judging by posts on Facebook this morning, it is a favorite day for parents of school age kids.

School officially starts the day after Labor Day here in Minnesota, but I like to think of this day as Fall's New Year's Day. It's a new school year and all your notebooks are clean and un-doodled-upon. You get a clean slate!

I may not have the cool new three-ring binder (I'm just guessing it's the one with that Bieber kid on it), but as it turns out this year, my first day of my New Year will be next Monday when I start my new job at Mayo Clinic.

Here's the "Official First Day of School" photo from my first day of kindergarten before I headed up the hill to Abbott. Now, mom wasn't the type to take first day of school photos, so you got your photo taken on the first day of kindergarten and from that point, it was up to the school photographer.

(What kind of posture did I have in kindergarten?)

I'll have my official first day photo at Mayo Clinic - it's called the ID photo. Unlike school, where if the photo isn't flattering, you just somehow lose it; the Mayo ID photo is with me forever and I'll have to wear it every day. 

The outfit you wore for the first day of school was always important and the pre-first day of school shopping trips meant that you usually got some new clothes along with that three-ring binder. I love shopping now, but back then, not so much. Taking an ADD child shopping isn't easy or very fun for a parent.  Mom would take sister Sue shopping (we're 15 months apart in age) for clothes and just buy two of the same outfit in different colors. 

During my junior high school years, my obsessive-compulsive tendencies came out a bit when I wore the same first-day-ensemble all three years - powder blue knit pants, white turtle neck and a baby pink blazer. Why I ever imagined that was cool is beyond me! I used to call my best friend Labor Day evening to discuss our ensembles. Why didn't she clue me in?

I am envious of my educator friends since they get to experience the annual excitement of the kids.  Yes, it's their job, but you have to imagine the kids' joy at the opportunity for a new year and a new chance must rub off a bit.

I know some people will say that you could have that frame of thought each and every day, but it's not the same if you're the only person feeling it. The "First Day of School" experience is the flip side/positive version of mob mentality.

The rest of the year may or may not be "all joy, all the time," but for that one moment, each and every year, there's a chance. 

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