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Today was a BIG first in our household. While lots of moms sent their kids to school for their FIRST first days back when they were in kindergarten, I considered today, to be Calvin's FIRST first day as he went off to our public middle school for the elective hours. It's true that I dropped him off at the intermediate school for band class a couple of days each week for the last two years, but then he was just slipping into and out of the band room and I was dropping him off and picking him up. This year he is taking not just band, but also a second elective class (to change every quarter), which means putting his stuff in a locker, keeping track of homework, and even...get this...riding the bus home.

I'll admit. I was worried. The bus when I was in middle school was no pleasant place to be. Actually, neither was the school most of the time. I remember middle school as a veritable obstacle course of social missteps and catastrophes. There were a few good times, of course, but what stands out the most in my mind was the overall awkwardness of those years. So when I dropped Calvin off after lunch today for his first day of classes I think I had more first day jitters than he did. 

And actually, he came home all smiles. He loved the classes—band was a given, of course, but he also loved his other class which is sculpture this quarter. More surprisingly, he loved riding the bus. And finally, after all these years, I have some of the actual first day of school pictures to add to my collection!