Can you believe it? Really can you believe it? With every new school year, I have such a hard time grasping the fact that a new school year has begun. How did time manage to pull the wool over our eyes once again? How did time manage to end what seemed like a never ending summer? Three months ago we all felt like we had endless possibilities to mold summer into what our Pinterest boards envisioned for us or felt like we could easily slash through our summer bucket lists. 
Whether or not you made it through your vision of summer, the fact is the bell has been rung and classes have started. The first day of school kind of reminds me of the anticipation of Christmas or any other holiday where you feel the pressure to find the perfect gifts, arrange logistics that will please everyone, plan meals, check schedules, and have the right outfits. Consider the start of school a warmup for the holidays!
In the weeks leading up to the first day of school (literally Christmas for some of you) and into the first couple of weeks of school, we find ourselves relating to the trials and tribulations that come along with the new school year:
– After finding the exact sized binders (mom, it has to be ½ inch, not one inch), you find out that you child really needed a three-subject notebook instead.
– Then after really finding the exact sized binders and notebooks, you venture back out for forgotten dividers (which have to have pockets and are $10 more) only for your child to see binders that are indeed Pinterest worthy; commence the start of the return pile by the back door.
– You find yourself wiping the sweat off of your forehead after fighting countless clothing racks in search of clothing that won’t get your child dress-coded. I am speaking more for our girls and the impossible task of obtaining shorts that fall below fist length but aren’t too long either (because they will never be worn) – mission impossible and more items added to the return pile.
– After confirming that you will be getting up at O’dark thirty to make lunches and proceed to pick up new lunch bags (they will love them), your child informs you that they will be humiliated by said lunch bag. The return pile climbs higher; at least the receipts are all in one place (hmm…). 
– You visit Trader Joe’s, Costco, Harris Teeter, Publix, Aldi, and Whole Foods to pick up the makings for Pinterest worthy lunches that will even impress the Food Babe. You pack the pantry and the refrigerator feeling tall only to feel incredibly small when your child walks by and their facial expression says: add it all to the return pile by the back door.
– Upon asking how the first day of school went, you learn your child doesn’t have friends in some classes and they wish to “return” those classes. Sorry, no returns.
– Once your kids reach a certain age, meaning size, your clothes are no longer your own. They come home with pencil marks and deep creases from being stuffed down inside the bowels of the backpack.
– If your child has a new school bell schedule, you may have failed to remember that you said you would pick him up – in my own defense, high school gets out too early for my brain to comprehend. Doesn’t seem natural.
– And speaking of unnatural, high school start times. Feels like Christmas everyday! I wonder where they hid my presents?
The list could go on, but I must actually move on. Apparently I have a paper to read over. But seriously, I am going to embrace every early morning wake time, every request for a ride to school, and every simple request like subtracting a ½ inch from a binder. With one child in middle school and one now in high school, I know this is all the easy stuff. And I know too well how time is going to snatch up these next years and then they will be gone. It is a privilege to be their parents. Embrace every day!
