Because I'm married to a school administrator our evenings and weekends are filled with events. Sporting events-football, volleyball, cross country meets, basketball, wrestling tournaments, baseball, softball, and track. Then there are the concerts, awards ceremonies, pageants, and plays. And of course dinners that are late for meetings and committees. It is just part of the cycle of this crazy life. But the benefits of it are innumerable. Our son attends school in the same district where my husband works. He is growing up in the same way I did. The school buildings are his playground. We swing by in the evenings to check on progress of various building maintenance projects, and he gets to climb stairwells in the dim evening light, run empty hallways, yell into an empty gymnasium to hear his echo, stand at the edge of an empty football field and imagine what it will look like when it is filled with action. We attend school functions and he feels as though the faculty is an extension of his family. I remember that same feeling at his age whenever I set foot in my dad's buildings. The older students were like older, cooler siblings to me. The teachers, custodians, bus drivers, secretaries, and cooks like aunts and uncles to me. It was a giant, safe nest outside of our home. I loved it. I can see that same feeling on our son's face.
Last night at open house, one of the counselors asked Jack if he lived at school. His immediate response was "yes." We all laughed and watched as he skipped around the hallway. But I knew immediately what he meant. That school feels just as much like home as our house does to him. And that makes me happy.
Welcome back to school everyone! Sharpen your pencils, grab your boxes of crayons, have ready your scissors and glue. It is going to be a fantastic year!
