Back to School

In a last ditch effort to see a too busy friend before school starts and her life gets even busier, I volunteered to help set up her second grade classroom. We cleaned the walls and desks using non-approved, environmentally incorrect products, we stood precariously on insecure shelving to reach up high, we hung paper and brightly colored borders on the walls, the alphabet above the chalkboard and put up a tree by the door for the "Everything Grows" themed school year so the "bees" in her class can fly to the top as they progress with their reading. This teacher stuff is hard work. But, paper cuts and all, it was fun. It gave me hope. I often think of one of my old college teacher's mantra "the real world sucks, don't go" when a new school year begins. School's cool. Every few months there's the chance to start from scratch, learn something new and even get a little reward at the end. It definitely beats the monotony of the real world. But this year, as other parents gather up new backpacks and lunch boxes and clothes and plan for the meet-the-teacher nights, my very last back to school task list has just one thing on it. New laptop. Where's the fun in that? No full cart at Staples. No mob at the mall. But the hardest part - next year's list will be empty.

I may have to go back to the bee tree for a little inspiration.