First Day of 3rd Grade

Takyra was up at the crack of dawn today. I'm surprised she got any sleep at all. When I fell out of bed, she was already dressed and had her lunch packed. She looked at me and said, " I can't believe I'm growing up. I'm not your baby anymore." I couldn't believe my ears. She quickly recovered, " Well, I'll always be your baby. Even when I'm 16 and get my license, I'll be your baby." She proceeded to list all the stages in life when she will still be my baby.
Her ensemble for the first day of school is quite a site. She has several back to school outfits, but she couldn't help, but pick the brightest and wildest of them all. She has blue camouflage pants, a purple camou backpack, a pink camou lunch box, and green Converse hi tops ( The one pair of shoes she thought she could never live without). She has camouflage overload on today. Even so, I am certain her teacher will be able to find her.
We walked to school and quickly spotted her classmates. With year round school, she keeps the same classmates, only this year her class went up in size by 4 kids. The boy who sits next to her is new to the class, but was at the school last year. His mom is the art teacher. When I asked if they knew each other, he replied, " Yeah, I sat by her on the bus to field trips last year and she was annoying." Oh really now. "I mean she was kind of goofy." Good recovery boy. I might have had to pull his chair out from under him when he sat down. Even so, Takyra wanted her picture taken with him and I won't be surprised if he is her crush of the year. We unpacked all her school supplies, which overflowed off her desk. Kids were running everywhere making sure they got their supplies into the right piles. It isn't the way it was when I was a kid. We had long summers and there was so much to talk about when we saw our friends again. Takyra's class has only had a 5 week break and her day camp is at the school, so she has seen quite a few friends during that short time. So, not much catching up to do between her and her friends. After I got a few pictures of her and her classroom, I decided it was time for me to let her be a 3rd grader. One of the other moms came in and said it was pouring down rain outside. I thought about waiting to walk home, but figured a little rain never hurt anyone. If that was pouring down, I'd hate to see what she thinks when it really does come down. It was a light rain. One of those rains that you love when you are hiking or camping. Just enough to cool you off, but doesn't leave you wanting dry clothes. As I walked home in this "downpour" I was thinking that it was very significant of a fresh start. God was showing me the gentle freshness of a new day. I loved it, and I am not at all worried that my baby just started 3rd grade.
My only complaint about school in this day and age is how much "stuff" there is. We bought everything except the teacher's wardrobe this year. I know when Takyra gets home there will be plenty of papers to sign and at least 4 things that require payment of some sort. Yes, it is the start of a new school year. There are no black boards in her school. All dry erase boards. There is nothing like the smell of chalk. I guess when Takyra looks back and remembers school, she'll think there's nothing like the smell of dry erase markers. By the time she has kids it will be all computerized. So long as my daughter gets a good education, I don't care what means they use. I'm sure she is enjoying her first day, and it is only a matter of time before she is tired of the work involved with 3rd grade. Multiplication, cursive writing, and lots of homework. My next entry will be about stressed 8-year-olds.