First Day of School

It is the first week of school here in Las Cruces and it makes a few things come to mind. Please indulge me a bit on this topic.

First, I cannot think about the first day of school without hearing the oh so familiar Little Rascals theme song, and remembering the episode about returning to school after the summer. I looked it up (yea internet and YouTube) and saw that it was named “Bored of Education” and was about the “boys” (Spanky and Alfalfa) hatching a plot to have a fake toothache and get out of school. My favorite line is uttered early by Spanky when he says it is “210 days ‘till our next vacation!) As usual, their plot is foiled, hilarity ensues and we find out that Darla LOVES school (big surprise!)

As you may know, Mrsfabp is a former school teacher, former librarian, and former stay at home mom, so de facto, I consider myself to be an expert in all three fields. Well at least that is my story and I am sticking with it. So, a few comments are in order.

This is the first week of school here in Las Cruces. Mrsfabp has started it with a substitute aid job in a nearby school. Because we have only one car and I had errands to run, I was up early with her and drove her there. I got to see the almost universal first day of school experience. It included freshly scrubbed faces (the kids, not mine), new clothing, new backpacks, piles of school supplies, and according to Mrsfabp, the usual amount of confusion and pandemonium, from the students, the parents and the children. Another universal was the number of parents there, seeing their children off, talking pictures, getting teary eyed, and longingly waving goodbye. There was also a good number of parents cheering and dancing in the crosswalk as their kids finally got out of their hair for a few hours. They are trading their “I’m bored” statements by their kids to “I have a project due for class tomorrow” statements. . The more things change, the more they stay the same. (BTW, I learned this in French originally - Plus les choses changent, plus elles restent les memes, from my Aunt Gloria, who I miss very much.)

There is a sense of comfort in seeing the natural rhythms of life continue here since we have moved. I don’t feel homesick for NY or Massachusetts, but at times like this, I feel even a bit more like this is my home.