Sunday, September 2, 2012

~School Daze~


 For me, September has always meant


When I was young,  we didn't start school until after Labor Day.
You know, me and Fred Flinstone.

But the planning for the big day was all the fun for me.
Notebooks and pens and pencils and crayons

I find myself taking the craziest pictures since I started blogging!
I still love to peruse the school supplies aisle. I've never gotten over my love for pens and papers and all kinds of office gadgets.
And of course when I was younger, the new year also meant a new lunch box
(if you were lucky)




Until you got a little older and became TOO COOL for lunch boxes
and then brown bagging it was the only way to go.

Mr. Wonderful has been known to pack my lunch, and this is usually what I find.  :)

I remember
walking to the bus stop and waiting there with the neighborhood kids.
 Where the boys would inevitably start horsing around and showing off.
And the girls would roll their eyes, but were secretly watching their every move.

A typical class photo. 5th grade.
I am top row second from the left.
Ah, Good times.


Then before you know it you're in the 7th grade
And that is a whole new world.
'The Wonder Years' perfectly captured that era of my life.


I loved that show. Every episode was a walk down memory lane.

Here is Kevin
with the ever present BIG BLUE notebook, that you spent the
entire year writing and drawing on
and covering with stickers and the initials of your secret crush.


Winnie the fashionista.
Those fishnet stockings, were all the rage
( and by some parents, still considered 'scandulous')
I NEVER got to wear a pair.  :(

Most of the girls my age, wore the ubiquitous knee socks.
Of course it was super cool to coordinate your knee socks with your outfit.
But good old WHITE was always acceptable.

Thinking back over those years, memories come flooding in.
I smile, and keep a soft spot in my heart for 
'the girl I was'.
 With all her dreams, big ideas,
insecurities, fumbling, stumbling
and rushing towards adulthood.

And then there you are looking over your shoulder
 as your school days are left behind.
The years have been whisked away, while you weren't looking.  

As I peer through the lens of time I am sending my own son off to school.


I close my eyes, only for a moment, but when I look  again
he is grown.
And sending HIS son off to school.  Sigh.

And I whisper
Happy School Days
Treasure them always.



9 comments:

  1. The smell of your creaky new schoolbox, crayons, and eraser. Opening your new glue bottle to squirt a dab in your palm, let it dry, and then peel it off, just for fun. The dichotomy between grabbing a seat as far back as you can but close to friends, as fast as you can. Noting how much that boy you like has grown and hoping he likes your new hair cut. Your new shoes hurting and your new clothes with an itchy tag. Great school memories! Loved this trip down memory lane!

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  2. Back to school, indeed! The college and grade school campuses are buzzing with activities here in DC. For me, going back to school was always very exciting....but also stressful. Who would be in my classes? Which teachers? The exams....ugggh! I have fond memories, but happy those days are behind. So much more fun watching others go back to school :)
    xoxo,
    L

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  3. Wonderful post Terri :) School starting is a mixed bag for most.. if you are school-age, there can be stress and if your a Mom .. there can be stress :) Love that Barbi lunch box! I have the original Barbi (yes.. I'm that old!) and my kids are in college. I miss those years now.

    Thanks for stopping by today. I've added myself to google and I'll follow via email or bloglovin.

    leslie

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    1. I wish I still had my orignal Barbie, but she is lost to the land of misfit toys. I'm sorry my Mom didn't think to keep her. I had quite the Barbie collection and I can stil swoon when I see MY BARBIE and the outfits that I remember having. I loved my early school years, Junior/Senior High is where things got more complicated.
      Thanks for stopping by Leslie

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  4. Haha! Aw so cute. I have always loved school supplies and stationary and all of that good stuff. Even when I was out of school for the years in between college and now grad school, I always liked to get a few school supplies for the coming years. :) Hope you have a lovely weekend!
    BTW: I love the original Barbie. I used to get a magazine that was based on all of the vintage Barbies, and I just swooned over their lovely outfits and classic styles. So different from the ones today. I was born in the wrong era. :)

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    Replies
    1. Oh I agree Kerri. Of course I was born in the right era. Ha ha. But many of my younger co-workers over the years have always had the same comments. The original Barbie and her wardrobe......can't be beat. Classis beauty. Good to see you back so soon.
      I also remember that you love paper/pens supplies as well. What fun huh?

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  5. Another wonderful post, I especially loved the photo in the school supplies aisle at Wal-Mart. :)
    I truly miss school days! I was always so excited to get new school supplies and pick out new outfits!

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    1. I STILL love getting my new supplies of pens and pencils and papers. I can spend quite a bit of time in the office supplies section. :)

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  6. Oh, don't feel bad about not being allowed to wear fishnet stockings. If you didn't get to shave your legs, the hair stuck out of each net hole. And, if that wasn't bad enough, the bottom of the foot was netting, and each individual net hole would dig unmercifully into the sole of your foot! But yeah, I did feel special wearing them (but the cat eyed glasses cancelled out the coolness, sigh).

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