I don’t remember getting new outfits, backpacks or lunch boxes each year for school. There were no #BTS haircuts, shopping trips, Instagram photos at the bus.
My mom was not a shopper nor was she a photographer iPhone, 35 mm film, Polaroid or not.
I still got the ‘back to school’ butterflies and excitement nonetheless. It was not from cues from television ads (no tv in our house), nor from sales at the mall, but rather a little help from the magazines at the grocery store check out and the change of seasons in the air.
What I love about Back to School is perhaps first and foremost, I know you’ll think I’m kidding but I’m not, Fall Fashion. I loved the fall shoes, the corduroy, the rich, warm colours, and I still do.
As much as I loved summers by the lake, with no sense of beginning or end to any one day, I also loved the routine of school. I loved my teachers. Even the ones that were not my favorite had at least one or two things on their desk, in their character, or in their lives that intrigued me.
As a mom, I love this time of year because my summers don’t have many moments of timeless bliss but rather fill with spinning chaos, and bickering siblings much too easily come August. I love seeing my children navigate their own world that only partially belongs to me. I enjoy being ‘backstage mom’ to their life for at least part of the day.
Perhaps my sweetest back to school memory is coming home from school, exhausted from a day of peers, learning, and daydreaming, to a warm house filled with the smell of my mom’s freshly baked muffins or banana bread.
What are your fondest back to school memories?
Nice post. I loved if I got a new pencil case already filled with pencils, ruler and colored pencils. New books and reading the last page imagining how clever I would be at the end of the year when I would know and understand what was written.
Mind you these memories only apply to junior school. I despised secondary school!
Ohh yes! You just reminded me. I really liked having a new pencil case and especially the fresh, unblemished pink pearl eraser each year! Even though at home I really coveted the white (wrapped in a blue sleeve) Staedtler eraser that my dad had on his desk at the office and at home.
Happy days!