Back to school!

I remember back in the day when it was school time.

Mom would take us - all of us - shopping a couple of weeks before school started.

We each got a couple of outfits, some shoes, maybe some socks or underwear. (Those were usually birthday presents.)

But I think the best part was getting the school supplies.  I love school supplies.

To this day, I smile when I see shiny new books, smell that new book smell, or run my hand over a stack of perfect white paper.

I love having everything in order; ready for another year of school.  Love the stack of paper in my organizer.

Love the pile of new pencils just waiting to be sharpened.

Love the new chalk; perfect long sticks that flow so smoothly across my chalkboard.  (By the way, the OMYA brand is the only way to go on chalk.)

Love the stack of colored spiral notebooks; crisp, clean, and just waiting to be written in. ( $.01 at Staples {limit 6} and $.17 at Walmart.)

Love the cleanness of the schoolroom, the scrubbed baseboards and windows, the tidy desks.

Love the maps waiting to be explored.

Love Mr. Anatomy being ready and willing to be pulled apart, labeled, and put back together in a not-so-gentle manner.  He never complains.

Love the markers and highlighters ready to be used.

Love the line-up of text books newly arrived.

I think I just love school.  Back in the day, my sister and I used to play school for hours at a time.  Back when we had to use carbon paper to make copies, use cast off chalk crumbs from the school, and make do with paper clips on the end of our fingers for long, lady-like fingernails.

In fact, when I was young, I always had 2 or 3 things I wanted to be when I grew up.

1. A mother
2. A teacher
3. A nurse

I got married, had kids, and got to be all three!

I'm so grateful we've been able to home school our kids.  I love it.

However, I am glad that there is light at the end of my tunnel! Only 3 more years!

So whether you are homeschooling, or you are sending your kids off to school, take a minute to remember the excitement and anticipation of another year of school beginning.  Grab a text book.  Open it up and take a deep breath.  Ahhh.  Remember that new book smell?

Pull out a crisp new sheet of notebook paper.  Write your name on it a couple of times.  Remember the big, loopy cursive you used to do in Junior High?  Yeah, the one where you made little circles to dot your i's.  Or the back slant cursive.  Or the one where it is all capitals.  Go ahead!   Give it a try!

Hope you all have a wonderful 2012/2013 school year!