Parents, I hear your collective sigh of relief.
It is September 1st, the day Israel declares as the beginning of the school year, and we are all wiping our brows and smiling in relief that we survived the summer. The hot, long summer, spent with children who have too many toys and not enough to do.
(Oh sure, in your home you went on hikes, grew organic vegetables, created dioramas based on each week’s parshah and baked spelt bread with your kids. I hope that you and all your friends in Never Never Land live happily ever after.)
The first day of school was always my favourite day of the year: it speaks of clean slates, the possibilities of excelling and of being discovered. I would buy new pencils, pens and paper every year, in the hope that their shiny newness would inspire me to be organised, both in person and in schoolwork. This didn’t actually work. You’re shocked, I know.
But still. The day deserves some joyous attention, to go along with the adrenaline. Each year I bake my kids a First Day of School cake. Today as we ate it, we talked about going to school - learning math, science, history, geography - as a way to connect to the Torah and to God, and we celebrated this new beginning with a sweet taste in our mouths. Yum.
(Photo credit: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafika:Kredki_Foto.jpg)
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