The Magic School Bus

It arrived this morning at 7:57AM. The big, yellow bus came and whisked Her Highness away for her first day of second grade. She awoke at 7:00 to the smell of blueberry muffins and the sound of a sneezing Conqueror. She was happy and excited to go to school. I was excited for her!

She and I went to meet the teacher, as I mentioned here, on Monday night and HH was thrilled that, gasp, she was the very teacher she wanted!? Yay! And, it gets even more exciting, she has a (drumroll please. I know the suspense is killing you but you have to wait just a few more nanoseconds to hear what my seven-year old second grader is thrilled to have) desk! HH has left behind the baby-ish tables of Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st grade. She. Now. Has. Her. Own. Desk! (Did you feel the earth move just a little around 6:00 Monday evening?) This is a tremendously big step for those of you who are too out of touch with your own inner second grader. Honest.

I remember second grade. Mrs. Huggins was my teacher. She was so scary looking; she had very, very long hair and wore it pulled back in a tight and rather severe looking bun. Despite her witch-like appearance (hey, I was in 2nd grade!), she was a wonderful teacher. I loved her! She was a nature-lover and took our class on long walks in the woods behind the high school. She had eaten rattle snake and brought her camos and hunting rifle to school during deer gun season so she could hunt in those same woods after class (remember, this is pre-Columbine, Jonesboro and the like). We prayed each day before entering the cafeteria. Second grade was wonderful.

Truthfully, though, I loved school. I remember my very first day of kindergarten, which was also my first school bus ride. My mom and grandma (whom we were staying with at the time for some reason not worth mentioning) were going to walk me to the end of the driveway in their (gasp!) bathrobes and I wouldn't allow it. No way, Jose! I didn't want the older kids to see my terribly uncool mom and granny. I was way to cool for that, even at five years old.

HH loves school, too. She woke last night nervous and excited and had trouble going back to sleep; I did this every year of school- even high school. She was excited to wear her new clothes, shoes, undies and backpack. I loved that, too, as a little girl. The first day was always so exciting! The beginning of a whole new year of learning and new friends and growth.

I hope she has a great day!