Welcome to our last week of summer posts for the year! I hope your summer is winding down nicely and you (like me!) are looking forward to those first blissful weeks of autumn weather. Amy Sorensen here, with a Write post to get some journaling ideas flowing.
I thought Amy Kingsford's three posts last week about scrapbooking our first day of school moments were so inspiring. They made me think about the layouts I’ve made about my kids’ first days, and those I have left to make, and what I’ve written down, and what I haven’t. I’ve got lots of details about teachers and classrooms and what grade they’re starting…but not enough of the other details. The stuff that makes every day unique.
So I came up with ten journaling prompts to help you write about the distinctive details of your back-to-school mornings:
1. The morning routine. What time did your child get up, and how did that first wake-up-early thing go? What did you make for breakfast? What problems did you have? How was it different this year?
2. The outfit. Not just what she’s wearing, but the story behind it. Why’d she pick that specific outfit? Where did you buy it? What do you think about it? Does it say anything about her current personality, worries, changes? (Substitute “him” for your boys!)
3. The shoes. I can’t explain why, exactly, but for me there’s just something so melancholy about the first time they put their new school shoes on. No more flip flops...no more slide-on-your-shoes-and-race-out-the-door adventures. But structure. And shoelaces.
My journaling and focal-point photo focus on my son Jake’s new school shoes (and their symbolic implications) in this layout:
4. The backpack. I don’t buy new backpacks for my kids every year—I try to get three or four years out of each one. So when they DO have a new pack? It’s pretty exciting. But it doesn’t have to be just the pack. What’s inside? The usual supplies, of course. But maybe a little encouraging note from mom? Or a toy they don’t know you know is there?
5. The supplies. What was on their list? What was hard to find? Where did you shop?
6. The real story. Sometimes it isn’t in the morning or the actual first day. Sometimes the memorable story happens at back-to-school night. Or at 3:00 a.m. the night before the first day.
7. The way to school. Do your kids ride the bus? Walk? Carpool? When my son started junior high, he was so relieved to not have to wait for carpool anymore. He got to walk! (Plus…this photo of him and his older brother walking together? LOVE!) It felt like it deserved its very own documentation:
8. The first-day afternoon. How did your children feel at the end of the first day? What stories do they share?
9. The learning. I love asking my kids what they learned on the first day. My teenagers will always give me a sarcastic answer. Elementary kids are much more sincere, but every answer says something about where they are right now.
10. The mom. How do you feel about your child’s first day?
I hope your first-day-of-school adventures are good ones!
