The first day of school can always be a little nerve-wracking, especially when your bus number is safety pinned to your 80's styled pastel t-shirt and it's your first day of kindergarten. Luckily, in the 23 years that have transpired between these two photos, I have learned how to dress myself (arguably) though I have managed to retain that pink backpack. I may have upgraded to a Coach diaper bag (yes, little known fact; the multi-colored plaid changing table pad actually protects my laptop quite well), but the sentiment is the same: feminine and functional, sans carebears. I digress.Age 29 Age 6
The day one pictured on the left is different in other ways, too. On this day one, I already have friends at school. And, I am no longer the littlest tadpole in the pond! In fact, I am kind of the biggest! Instead of following directions, retreating to my cubby hole, and finger painting, I am communicating directions to my classes, filing class rosters in my desk, and employing the "powerpoint" program on my laptop. I will submit maturity, responsibility, and adulthood are not they are cracked up to be. For example, when I was 6, I wore incredibly comfortable (and stylish!!) Strawberry Shortcake velcro sneakers. Today, I wore strappy black wedge sandals that carved blisters into my feet.
When I was 6, I ate cereal in front of Sesame Street. Once, I even bit my father when he changed the station to track the latest hurricane. I mean, how dare he?? These are valuable lessons I was learning and, thanks to that event, I can now only count to 7. I totally skipped 8 and never quite understood how to retrieve those precious lost numbers. Today, I grabbed my usual Special K bar and diet crack (yes, I have replaced coke with crack since I am officially addicted to it) and inhaled them on the drive to campus while listening to NPR.
When I was 6, if we cursed in class, we were sent to the corner. Today, while explaining the workload to one of my classes, I used the expression "pain in the ass", immediately smacked my hand across my mouth, and the class giggled.
When I was 6, I wore Harry Potter-esque glasses and tried to dispose of them during reading group one day. Today, though not pictured, I don glasses when only absolutely necessary. I have recently discovered my sight seems to be catching up with my age and is, ever so discreetly, fading. I fear I will return to my full-time spectacles status soon, so I will savor these squinty moments sacrificed in the name of beauty.
Alright class, as we have seen, there are definite pros and cons to growing up. The one thing that hasn't changed is that I still find myself in a classroom and I am still just as eager and excited as my first day of kindergarten. I am still that dorky, goofy, gregarious little girl with the bus number taped to her shirt; perhaps, this time, I am just a little less lost.
