The first day of school is such an exciting time–it’s a fresh start and the beginning of a new adventure. But it’s also a very hectic time!  My kids are actually in year-round school here, which basically means that they’re in school for 9 weeks, and then out for 3 weeks (more or less), all year long.  So with the way our “track” is lined up, my girls finish school in late June, and then after having just one week off, they’re right back to school in a new grade in July!

It’s a whirlwind in our house as one school year finishes up (along with all the assemblies and year-end events that come with it), and then we’re immediately off to buy school supplies again (often before the previous year is even over) because my daughters don’t want to risk things being picked over!!  They don’t like to mess around when it comes to cute notebooks and folders.  School supplies are serious business in this house.

I’m always trying to encourage a positive attitude toward school and learning, and so I try to make a big deal out of starting a new grade.  I talk it up as much as possible, and we have a tradition of baking the same cookies every year so they come home to a sweet treat on the first day.  But by the time I get all that handled as one school year blurs into the next, I have zero energy left to do anything too creative with fun signs to hold on the first day of school (although I’ll admit that I’m a bit envious of the moms who remember to do that!!).  But I do love pictures (!), so of course we don’t let that moment pass us by completely, however!  That would be crazy talk.  Instead, our family’s super-fast photo tradition on a busy, stressful, first-day-of-school morning:  hold up your fingers to show what grade you’re entering.  Done!

My girls always stand by our front door so the background is fairly consistent–that helps to show your child’s growth from year to year as her head hits a higher spot along the door.  (You’ll see that we changed out our front door along the way, though, when we did some renovating.)  I also love to see the fashion choices my girls make each year!  :)  We’re only six years into this, but it’s already so fun to see the changes.

Hoping your kids all have a wonderful school year ahead, whenever that may begin!  Don’t forget to snap a picture on your way out the door!  :)

P.S.  Speaking of school starting, these are the best school keepsake books!!  (See ours in the picture below.)  I have them for all my girls, and I actually have a similar one that’s mine from when I was a kid.  It’s a riot to look back at all that I filled in throughout my childhood.  (At one point, I wanted to be a “stor keeper” because I thought it looked so fun to work a cash register!)  If you aren’t good about keeping up with this kind of thing, don’t worry–you just fill in one page on the first day of school (height, weight, teacher’s name, etc.) and then at the end of the year, the kids can fill in the back side of the page (things like favorite subject, new friends, what they want to be when they grow up, their signature, etc.)  There’s also a pocket that provides the perfect place to store a handful of things like report cards, artwork, pictures, ribbons, etc.  I love these books, and there’s not much to fill out–so they’re easy to keep up with even if you aren’t the scrapbooking type!  A book like this would also make a perfect gift for a child graduating from preschool, starting kindergarten, or celebrating a 5th birthday!

 

 

First Day of School Pictures – Through the Years