Lots of children and parents in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia are waking up earlier than usual this morning and wondering what happened to the easy breezy days of summer. They are looking at the calendar and staring at today’s date and thinking, “How did this happen? How could today be the first day of school?”
A new school year is time to look forward with a sense of hope. It’s a chance to do things a little different and a little better. First days of anything offer the opportunity for a fresh start. Of course, there may also be some anxiety about starting something new but hopefully not too much. I know I don’t like to feel anxious but I have come to realize that sometimes it motivates me to solve problems.
This is also the time of year when many people mentally set goals about what they want to achieve during the next coming months of school or for the whole school year. To some students and teachers, a new school year represents a supposed clean slate with everyone starting pretty equal.
At least that’s what the hope is, right?
From conversations with one of my sisters and one of my nieces, who are both teachers, and other moms in my neighborhood, no one likes the idea of starting school in August but everyone has decided to be as positive as possible about it because they want that kind of thinking to be passed along to the kids.
As life goes wheeling along, whether you are in school or not, your attitude can make a big difference. Choosing to be positive is not about projecting that your life is perfect but instead it’s about choosing to see the good things in life and believing that even when faced with a life crisis, that things will eventually get better.
Watching the neighborhood kids walk to school with their stiff new backpacks filled with spanking new school supplies, reminds me of this short video showing three sea turtles being released into the ocean at Virginia Beach on their proverbial first day of water school:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_d_Wyl0HeM
So good luck to everyone on their first day of school!!
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