The Back To School Stories

As I was eating lunch today I was thinking about how smooth back to school was for my kids this year. 

Almost too smooth - like when is it going to be tough? 

It obviously hasn't always been this way. There've been tears and frustrations and conflict and really rough transitions, especially for Simon. 

So far this year has been calm and, dare I say, happy. 

Well, you know, except for my own personal anxieties and such. Ha.   

Sometimes the hard part comes creeps in a after they've had a chance to acclimate to the new schedule. Sometimes Simon's tics (what he calls his "habits") get more exaggerated as new stressors come up.

But so far, so good. 

Simon was the first to head back to school last week. 

He's in the 7th grade this year. Around here that's the middle year of middle school. 

He's back with his regular crew of awesome teachers and aides. He's got one main teacher and two aides for four periods (language arts + math + support periods) then he has science (I think his favorite) and his elective is culinary arts. 

On the first day back at school he got out of the car on the first day and exclaimed to Chris and me, "there's no place like school."

And he smiled all the way in to get his schedule. 

He had a little bit of anxiety the night before when Aaron and I were tucking him in - totally normal pre-teen stuff. It might have been about a girl. He might of been showing us her photo in his yearbook. He might have been asking questions about what to do when he saw her again. 

(Dear Universe, any girl would be freaking insanely lucky to be adored by this guy. His heart is so full and he sparkles like nothing you've ever seen.)

When I picked him up after that first day he was super happy. That girl might have walked by him when he was in line for his schedule and said hi. 

A little kindness goes a very long way. 

Go Simon go. 

Anna started Kindergarten this week. 

She was ready. She asked for a new purple backpack with pink and blue and white polka dots and a cupcake embroidered on the back. She was excited and so looking forward to seeing her friends that she had made in the Pre-K program at this school last year. 

She had literally been counting down the days. 

We took her to the open house on Monday to meet her teacher, see her classroom, drop off her supplies and generally get back in the building. In the afternoon she met with her teacher in a one-on-one sit down meeting to check out her skills and give the teacher a chance for meet her individually. I sat in the hall in a kindergarten chair and waited patiently for her to come out. 

On Tuesday they started with an all-school assembly in the gym and then the kids walked with their teachers to their classrooms. There were multiple times Anna looked over at me during the assembly, checking to see if I was still there. I stuck around and walked with her to her class, holding her hand the whole way. Once the kids were all in the classroom the teacher had them sit on the floor and she started the day by writing "Be Brave" on the board. 

Awesome. 

It's something I so wish for both my kids. The ability to be brave in all the best ways (and to know that being brave doesn't mean you always win in the traditional sense). There are so many different kinds of bravery in our world - in doing things you might be afraid of/stepping outside your comfort zone, in standing up for others, in believing in yourself. Such a wise, wonderful lesson to begin the first day of Kindergarten.  

Go Anna go. 

Here's to a great school year for all our kids. 

SHOP UPDATES

Heads up that four new digital products went up on Tuesday. You can check them all out in the digital section of my shop. 

Here's my favorite one this week called Everyday Life Cursive - I used it on the photo at the top of this post of Anna. I also think it looks pretty cool really big across a photo: 

Also, I shared an image of the first Story Stamp™ set on Facebook and Instagram yesterday. The theme? Prompts. 

In future months I will just be sharing these sets on the day they go live (the 15th).

If you've already signed up you are all set and these stamps will start shipping next week. In addition you'll have access to the Subscriber-Only area on Monday (pretty sure this will be via the My Classes tab under your user name). 

And speaking of classes, I did a quiet launch of my new workshop Lens Of Joy. You can check all the details about this workshop (a four-week class running during the month of November) here. I'll post about it again next week.