Back-to-School Traditions

This year, Lewie started 7th grade!  Since he was a distance learning student last year, August 30th was his first official school day as a middle schooler.  There would be bells ringing to change classes (seven of them), a locker combination to learn, and a gym uniform to change into.  

Since this is the age of COVID, there would also be a mask to wear (even though he is vaccinated) and the possibility of going into quarantine if anyone in his class tests positive.

Yes, the day was fraught with anxiety, but for me, not for Lewie.  If he was nervous, he didn't show it, and when he came home from his first day, he was all smiles.   His teachers were nice, he had "aced" his locker combination (at least two times out of three), and he had seen some friends he made last year (from being online) in the hallways.

On August 30th, we also started a new tradition, too.  Bruce will run up to the bus with Lewie to watch him get on and then run up to the bus to greet him when he gets off.  Yes, Lewie has an official pal, and Bruce will whimper every time he sees Lewie get on the bus.  We both whimper to watch our boy go away.

After seven years of watching Lewie get on the bus, I should be used to the routine, but last year the pandemic created a new one.  Instead of watching Lewie get on the bus every day, I had the joy of seeing him learn from home in the kitchen, and since I was working from home, too, I could eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with him.  This year would be back to the "norm" or "new-norm," and it felt unnerving.

The second tradition for us is that we make a trip to Lake Quassy every year on the Friday before Labor Day.  (We didn't last year because of COVID.)  Since school always starts before Labor Day, I always have to call the school/notify teachers that Lewie will be missing a day of class.  I'm sure it doesn't make for a good first-impression, but tradition is tradition, and we like having this day off because we get the entire amusement park to ourselves.  It's also a reminder to us that in this crazy world, family still comes first.  Education is next, but family is first.

Our Quassy Day was sunny but breezy.  The weather made for a gorgeous day to go on regular rides, but it was too cold for the water park and too breezy for any of the paddle boats or the Quassy Queen (our tradition within a tradition).  Still, Lewie had a blast going on the Pirate Swing six times, the train three times, and many of the other rides at least once or twice.  Daddy, of course, made him go on the only adult rollercoaster in the park, The Wooden Warrior.

We had lunch and ice-cream and came home feeling refreshed instead of tired from a long first week of school.  Yes, it will take some time to get settled into this "new normal" of school and work away from home.  So far Lewie seems to like it, especially seeing his friends.  As for me, only time will tell...