Monday school starting blues

I really thought I was going to be tough today, I knew I could be just fine watching those kids run off to their futures,.. leaving me behind.    It was a day like so many others, get up early, make coffee toast and eggs, talk and make lunches, but today, we are ripe with anticipation for a new season of learning.  We are ready to burst with the thought of being back on the path of learning, and I was fine all along, not once did I worry, enough socks, enough folders, paper, pencils, not once did I nag, let me fix your hair,... not this time, no input is needed here.  I got out the camera, and I tried to save the moments, that I know are just speeding by, but I get hands, and hair and the blur of the fast moving teenager.    Yesterday, I was enjoying buying lunches for kids, and I said to a stranger who was near by, "Can I buy a lunch-able for a High School kid?"  He laughed and said, "You have High School kids, poor thing, I was just enjoying the fact I did not have to buy any school clothes! "  I never did find out his opinion of the Lunch-ables, but they give that - I love you but not enough to dote upon you with a home-made lunch , like I am such a busy mom, I just don't have time.. Lunch-ables aren't "hot-pockets" but they are probably a close cousin!  Best part about Lunch-ables, they come in that-- super strong sealed package, inside a cardboard--packing box, that even a teen-ager with a skateboard could not destroy!   ..I really do enjoy the lunch thing, its like a treasure hunt, you search for the perfect food to put into a back pack that may or may not ever make it to your child's mouth,.. and then if they do open it-, it could be as good as gold if you are starving or-- as dull as sand, if its  smashed into oblivion.  Grapes are still growing in abundance in our back yard, big sweet, Thompson seedless grapes, juicy and delightful for a hot day.  I picked about 100$ worth yesterday, was happy to have those for lunches today, if all else fails you know you can feel full with a few grapes.   But the packed lunch is like the care package for the homeless, it signifies the separation from the source.  And no matter how much we send them off with great thoughts, and great anticipation's, and affirmations, nothing prepares you for the faces of kids on the first day.  They have a universal look of fear, like what am I buying into?  Who ever said that mass learning was comfortable, and for the faces of the little kids, that I see outside my front door, its the usual face of ," Mom, I am not so sure, about this,...stay with me!"  Those little ones, that say stay with me, walk with me, hold my hand, and then they go to, don't kiss me, drop me off, and then finally its-- I love ya -- bye!  And you are sure, you are not any older, you can't be that much older, but they seem so much older now.    Looking at our little kids, we dressed them up, and we picked out back packs and we let them enjoy the fun, but as they get to teens, they do all the picking out and the fixing of the hair, and finally they come out of their rooms looking someone elses child!  You think =0 what is that, and how did you get your hair to do that?  I know I did not buy you that, and they say," Yea isn't this great my friend gave it to me"  or better yet, they take some piece of clothing from you -- and barely like it, and the next time you see it, its cut up into a totally different outfit, pinned and sewed and placed to have some meaning it never intended!  You never would thought of that... How do these teens get so creative with their clothes and hair, I did not think there was more ways to frustrate parents.   Ah, but the beauty of the day shines through too. And we can be proud to see our youth experiencing the timeless rights of passage like "Senior classes" and  incoming new Freshman. Without a doubt the American kids have the first day of school down to a religious experience full of of faith and hope, universally dressed  in Levi's Blue jeans, and t-shirts with cool logos, and the best pair of sneakers you can afford.  That one consistent thread is comforting, knowing we can always count on something to stay the same--brings us back to recognizing the pattern of circles of the seasons,  that consistent path we walk, the same paths we walked , our children walked and our grandchildren will walk.  They might have bright blue hair, and some other kind of unnatural diversion, but inside there are the same kids we were.  Happy to be on their way--   Good day all!   Godspeed!       Thank You From Panda Publishing http://artislifeupgraded.blogspot.com/