Back to School

by Beth Alexander Walsh

     

      I was going through the Sunday paper in August and came across all the back to school ads and I laughed. Out loud. LOL! This was the first time in 22 years that my husband and I did not have to help prepare for someone to go back to school.

     There were no pens, paper, notebooks and ink to buy. We did not have to inventory whether last year’s XL dorm sheets, towels and shower caddy were in serviceable condition. There were no trips to try on shoes and jeans or buying socks and underwear in bulk because, let’s face it, doing laundry in college is usually an act of desperation. There were no cleaning products to buy (not that they always got used) or stacks of paper products and snacks to last until Thanksgiving. We did not purchase toiletries, which is just a cute word for the two-page list brought to CVS that is the equivalent of a car payment at checkout.

     There were no boxes stacked in the living room weeks before the big moving day. We did not have to play Tetris with said boxes to properly load the car, with hopes of still being able to use our rearview mirror and then deciding the side mirrors were just fine. We also did not have to silently pray while driving a car packed to the gunwales, that the fourth- floor dorm room had an elevator in the building to move the mini fridge into its new home. There was no flurry of trips from the car to the room and then unpacking as much as our student would allow. (Parents need not linger).

     None of that happened this year. 

    

     That doesn’t mean that we have not enjoyed the 22 years of back to school adventures. Our memories, helped along with a parcel of photographs are all intact. There was the first backpack bought for our oldest daughter in the shape of a turtle to take her papers home from preschool. The next year our middle daughter got her own backpack, eager to follow her in her sister’s footsteps. Finally, four years later their baby brother made his way to preschool rendering our house silent for a few hours every morning. There were back to school haircuts, braids and bows, and new shoes kept in boxes until that very first day.  Homework and book reports turned into term papers, finals and SAT’s. Some of those years contained soccer balls and cleats while others incorporated musical instruments and Model UN trips.

      It was busy, exhausting, hopeful, enraging, exhilarating, tear-filled, and joyful. Sometimes those emotions happened all in one day. Every year brought the same cycle, yet every year brought change and a new level of independence for our children. Parenthood is not for the faint of heart because parenting always comes from the heart…and our hearts have been very full.

     Speaking of independence, my husband and I are celebrating ours. Labor Day Weekend now has a whole new meaning for us!