Growing up, I was eager to go to school. I loved school as a child. LOVED IT! It wasn't because of the many friends I had...I didn't. I had one true friend, my BFF. In high school people thought we were lesbians, until she got a boyfriend, then they just thought I was a lesbian. It wasn't the sports I played...hahaha, talk about getting picked last. No, I actually loved going to school and learning. Yes. I am that dork. That's probably why I couldn't get a boyfriend.
I wasn't smartest kid in my class, far from it in fact. Heck, I wasn't even the smartest kid in my family. My parents scholar...I am not. I earned every "C' and "B" I got. I had to work for them. School wasn't easy for me, but the challenge was exactly why I liked it.
After I graduated college I had nightmares for years where I had to go back to highschool because someone forgot to record my grades and I had to repeat it all, despite having a college degree. Don't get me wrong, I liked school, but I didn't want to do it again. Unlike a Drew Barrymore film, there were no cool friends or starry eyed teacher crushes. No, these were nightmares where I was forced to regurgitate information I hadn't seen or used in years and that I barely understood the first time around. AND, there were no notebooks!
I had no idea how right those nightmares were. Going back to school (sending your kids to school) SUCKS. As a parent, sending your kids to school is as big of milestone for you as it is for them. We all joke about being ready for summer to end because our kids are driving us crazy (cause they are), but going back to school, as a parent, is really hard. I HATE IT! There I said it. I hate sending my sending my child to school.
I hate the rushed mornings. I hate the PTA (I didn't even join last year. I don't have time for that). I hate homework. I hate school supplies (Except notebooks. I could never hate notebooks. They are one of God's greatest creations.). This year I had to send 50 sharpened pencils to school. SHARPENED! Like kids can't sharpen their own pencils. Walmart was completely sold out of sharpened pencils so my husband sharpened 50 pencils, while I labeled, with our son's name, 48 crayons, 12 colored pencils, 8 magic markers, and a pencil case. I had to write my son's name on 48 crayons. Let that sink in for a minute...48 CRAYONS! Ironically (or may not ironically. I took my lessons on the definition of irony from Alanis Morissette. I actually have no idea what irony is). Ironically, I was not to label the 3 ring binder, folders, or notebooks. Which, really, in the end was okay because I was truly sick of writing my son's name, and all the folders/notebooks we bought had to be solid colors which was totally lame. I mean seriously, solid colored notebooks. Why even bother?! But that's not the worst part of going back to school. 
When you think about it, sending your kids to school is one of the strangest things we do as parents. When you get pregnant you choose an OBGYN and Pediatrician. You may even interview them, or several, before deciding which is the best fit for you and your child. The same applies to childcare facilities or caregivers. You choose after considering how the individuals providing care will affect your child's safety and wellbeing. As parents we carefully guard our children and select their physicians and caregivers. We have different comfort levels and different ideas of what is appropriate, but almost no parent would let a stranger care for their child. NOPE--that is just crazy talk.
EXCEPT for when it comes to school. The government mandates our children go to school, to a school they have selected for us (homeschool or private school isn't an option for most of us). There our children spend the majority of their day, cared for by strangers, selected by...NOT you.
Look, I am not some anti-government conspiracy theorist. I am just saying it's really hard to drop your child off to be cared for by strangers. Some parents don't even have the luxury of dropping their children off at school and ensuring their safe arrival. They have no choice but to watch their child board a large hollow machine with no safety restraints operated by...you guessed it...A stranger!
I know I sound like a helicopter parent, and I probably am compared to some. But we have all heard the news stories about teachers sexually molesting children. We have emphasized at the report of school bus wrecks. We have watched in horror, speechless and heartbroken, at the news of deadly school shootings.
Supposedly schools are safe...Supposedly teachers are good people...Supposedly bus drivers are safe drivers...Unless they aren't, but as parent you won't know "unless" it's too late and the unimaginable has happened.
And so we celebrate the going back to school, hiding the worry in our eyes behind facebook posts and instagram photos. We take our children to school, not because we want to, but because we have to. And it's really hard to watch them go into the care of strangers with their new clothes, and their new backpacks, and their new folders, and their notebooks...with the same silent prayer...
"God, Please keep them safe this year."
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