Some families do chalkboards to memorialize their first day back to school. Other families do t-shirts, some do banners, or thematic breakfasts. Some overachievers do all of the above. While an adorable first day photo shoot will always be a must for me, (I look forward to embarrassing my son well into his high school and college years) our own special family tradition, my favorite, began 6 years ago when my oldest began his first year of Tot-Time.
When I transitioned from a full time teacher to a full time mom I went a bit overboard with celebrating milestones. As a Special Education Teacher I was conditioned to doing so routinely with each one of my students, so making a big to-do regarding “firsts” was already ingrained in my nature. When I was stayed home with Jamieson, we were always looking for things to celebrate. Many of our traditions started with him and have followed through with his younger sisters. This Back to school one is truly one of my faves.
On the night before our first day of school each child in our family gets their own tiny cake or cupcake, (depending on availability) and as their dessert that evening we have a mini end-of-summer celebration. Instead of “Happy birthday to you” we sing “happy first day to you!”. My son and daughter are always beaming as we sing to them, and as they enjoy their cake, we share what we are looking forward to most in the new, upcoming school year. I’m not sure if this has contributed to our lack of “first day jitters” for 6 years running, but our kids have always walked in on their first day back confident, excited, and looking forward to a bonus slice of that cake at the end of their school day.
Perhaps my favorite take-away from this annual event is the progression of photos I have collected of each of my children, all taken in the same spot at the kitchen table, looking bigger and smarter with each passing year.
Unbelievably, my littlest just turned two and will be joining the ranks and earning her own cake this year (sniff sniff). I look forward to this tradition as much as they do at this point, and I look forward to many years of cakes to come as we celebrate their education and growth over the coming decades.
Wishing everyone a wonderful back to school transition this year, regardless of what that looks like to you and your family. This year more than ever, it seems all of us could use a fresh start, and a little cake!
xx,
Katie