September Melancholy

It started as I got my first glimpse of the school this morning. I thought it was odd, since I was at school yesterday and Friday, and the week before. But today was the first day of school, and the feeling started.

At first I thought it was the typical bittersweet feeling. Boo is getting older, and although I love who she is now, and I'm proud of her, and I know she'll have a great year, I miss my little(r) girl, my toddler, my baby.

But it persisted a little bit throughout the day as I was making invitations and prototypes for Boo's upcoming Harry Potter birthday party.

And then, when I was walking Wonderdog through the park I passed a small child hanging from a chin-up bar. He was shouting to his mom that he wanted to hang there for ten minutes, and she was explaining how long that would feel, and they were just discussing things, hanging out in the playground.

I remembered how lonely the playground used to feel at this time every year. One day the playground and the pool beside it would be packed with kids, and the next day they'd all be at school, and Boo and I would be left to play quietly by ourselves, without being bombarded by the big kids. It always made me a little bit sad.

And that's when I realized that I'm not sad because Boo is getting older, not really. I'm sad because summer is over. Today I took a vacation day so that we could spend time together on her first day of school. She had a half day, so it was easier to take the day off than to try and arrange someone else to pick her up, but also I really wanted to spend this day with her. We went out for ice cream and delivered her party invitations before she got involved in homework and projects and playing with Neighbor. It was nice. And I was the first one to hear all about her first day of school, which is important to me.

But after today, I'll be at work four days a week, and I won't hear about things until dinner time. I know, it's not like I'm moving to another city, and Boo is in fourth grade, which means she can handle staying for after-care sometimes when Hopper has to stay late at his school to do Teacher stuff, and the rest of the time she'll be with her dad. But it's a change for us. I won't be picking her up from school. I won't be around for homework time.

And summer is over. No more vacations. No more pool. No more hanging out in the evenings with no homework to worry about. No more fireflies. No more barbecues.

I know a lot of parents are happy that school has started. I guess I am too, in a way, because I know that Boo was getting bored having had no activities for the past two weeks. And Boo had a great first day of school and I'm looking forward to all she'll do this year. And I like my job and will be doing rewarding things there. But I'm sad that we're getting back to the grind, sad that we'll be spending less time together doing nothing.

Book Fair

I just got back from volunteering at the Book Fair at Boo's school. I love working at the Book Fair. First, you get to hear the parents of young children wandering through with their kids, each family speaking in their own language.

Do you think George Monkey might be in here?

I want that train book!

Let's look for one we don't have at home.

Then you get to hang out with the other volunteers, who may not have a lot of experience with volunteer work. They want to organize and divide the work sensibly, which is fine, but I find it amusing when they don't want to step on my turf. "Oh, you're putting stickers on those books? You do that shelf, and I'll do this shelf, then."

Really ladies, the job is to get it done. There will be more to do (and more after that) so go ahead and jump into my shelf. I don't mind at all.

After that, the kids start coming in. At Boo's school, students aren't allowed to bring money when the classes visit the Book Fair. Each child gets a clipboard with a form on it so they can make a wish list. The lists are then sent home to parents. I love watching the younger kids make recommendations to one another. This morning I was working at a table full of LEGO and Star Wars books. Some of the boys were reading jokes to one another out of the joke books.

When the Middle School students arrived, it was a whole different thing. They handled the books with care, always putting them back where they belonged, and of course they used more discrimination in their shopping. And yet, their unfettered joy when finding a favorite author, a book they enjoyed when they were younger, or a funny poster was a pleasure to see and a reminder that they are still children and not yet fully teenagers.

I already bought a pile of nerdy books that I want to have around for Boo's reference as she gets into more complicated writing and learning. This afternoon, I get to take her shopping for keychains and erasers, and maybe she'll even pick out a book or two.

One never knows.

Best week of the year!