I've got those first-day-of-school blues

I dropped our son off for the first day of school this morning. The familiar pang of loss hit me again. He’s getting older. I can’t protect him all of the time. I let out a heavy sigh as I left him on the playground and turned to walk back to my car.

This is the first year I’m not dropping off both of our kids. Because our daughter is starting middle school, Paula is taking her. I probably would have lost it completely if I had been the one leaving our little girl at middle school.

We attended the Back to School event last night at Monfort. Paula and I were both blown away by how friendly and helpful everyone is at the school. We’re so pleased to have our kids back in District 6 after a year away at Harvard.

We told all of the Monfort teachers how much more we appreciate them and their school after seeing the state of public education back East. At Monfort, teachers and staff invite parents into the school, communicate with them, and truly try to be a partner in our children’s education.

I blogged about this point while I was away at Harvard. The first day of school reinforced these feelings.