I knew it was coming. I wanted a spectacular celebration. What mom doesn’t? Your child’s first day of REAL school always seems like such a HUGE monument when you play it out in your mind that you can’t imagine not having trumpeters and a full out procession to celebrate his big day.
Expectations
Okay, so maybe I didn’t want to go THAT big, but I wanted to make CJ’s first year of school memorable, and I really wanted to start a yearly tradition. I scoured the internet (hello Pinterest!) for days–weeks even! It had to be unique, fantastic, and amazing so he’d never forget. Then, life took back over, and I continued barely having time to pee. I realized that some amazing crafty thing would end up overwhelming me, or I’d spend a million dollars on something that would likely end up in the trash (self proclaimed compulsive spring cleaner!). So, I remembered what my favorite back-to-school traditions were. I suddenly realized my favorite memories were actually normal things. I loved shopping and having one-on-one time with my mom and/or dad, picking out all of my new supplies, and feeling like for once I was the absolute center of attention. With that it was done: I decided that CJ and I would have a full day filled with fun things focusing on his first day of school and *no little brother* around. This is a pretty big deal in our house, so I knew he’d be on board. It sounds pretty dull and simple, but it was not only something I could easily repeat every year but it was time CJ could remember spending with Mom.
On our way out, we grabbed a snack (yes, I let him pick his drink and he chose THAT monstrosity- lesson learned!)
The Classic Back to School Haircut
Next we moved onto a haircut. Not just any humdrum haircut, though! We’re new to Madisonville and I had seen a nifty kids-only shop back in October that I knew he would love. It’s apparently taken on new owners since then, but the place is called Cuttin’ Up Haircuts for Kids. He sat in a firetruck chair, played on an iPad, and got a “cool dude” cut that he is still excited about. The Stylist, Grace, was SO patient with my squirmy man!
Getting Back-to-School Supplies
Supplies were up next! He thought it was “lame” at first, but as we went along he started getting pretty stoked about all his cool new stuff for his “big boy school.”
A Back-to-School Treat
Last, but certainly not least, he was rewarded for good behavior with a snowball. We finally checked out the little stand that’s a few blocks from our new place. The sweetest older couple was working the window of Kool Breeze Snowballs, and the place was immaculate! I had never noticed cleanliness of snowball stands until a recent twitter conversation, and man was this place impressive! We sat at their concrete tables, playing rock paper scissors and thumb wrested until our snowballs ran out and it began to drizzle.
Anyway, the day was nothing to have trumpeters proclaim, but it was the perfect first year of school memory for me and my little man. Easy time together, building up anticipation for a not-so-small milestone. In a world where striving to be Pinterest-worthy on a daily basis has become the norm, the simplicity of our day was just perfect.
Looking for more Back to School content? We’ve got a guide for that! You can access that right here.
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