For about a month, all over Facebook back-to-school pictures have been taken and exclaimed over. Mommy blogs (and a few Daddy blogs) have written about the emotions tied in with that first day. I wrote my own mandatory back-to-school post last week. Lily and Emmy are pictured wearing their backpacks, loaded up with school supplies, a lunch and a snack, ready to go.

First Day of School

For Emmy, Kindergarten has really been no big deal. She has been in preschool since she was three and has been well prepped to start school. When I was three, there was no preschool in the town I lived in. I didn’t go to school until I was five years old, and then I went to Kindergarten. Emmy goes to school all day; I just went to school in the morning. Emmy has math in the morning, and gym class, and after lunch she has reading. I had nap time; our teacher would dim the lights and we would lie down on our little rugs and pretend to close our eyes.

Despite the less rigorous Kindergarten I attended, I did quite well in school. In fact, I must have liked school a lot since I went on to become a teacher myself. Way back in Kindergarten, though, all I wanted to do was lose my two front teeth, just like my friend Dawn did after putting the handle of her plastic book bag into her mouth. And I did NOT want the teacher to take my jump rope!

One day, I had decided to bring my brand-new jump rope to school. It was raining that day, so we had recess in the gym. The gym had wooden floors and a stage on one wall. Recess included many grades, not just the kindergartners. Kids would be running around playing tag; basketballs and kick balls would be flying through the air. With all the distractions, I soon abandoned my jump rope and let some other kids play with it. The sixth grade teacher saw that these kids were misbehaving with MY jump rope, and so he took it away from them. I saw what was happening, ran over to the sixth grade teacher and grabbed my jump rope right out of his hands. I told him that it was MY JUMP ROPE and my mommy told me not to lose it! My mother always got a kick out of telling me that story.

After learning all of the Letter People (for some reason it is Mister M that sticks out in memory), it was time for me to move on up to First Grade.

Mister M

After a year of watching me go to school and wanting to go too, my sister eagerly started Kindergarten. There was no Facebook, no blogging or Instagram or digital cameras back then, but Mom still proudly posted our First Day of School picture.

My sister, going to Kindergarten, and me, ready for First Grade.

And that, my friends, was the beginning of my formal Education.

What do you remember about your school days?