Firsts

Hello and welcome to the first Saturday of September here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is September 7th.

Across Wannaskaland, folks delved into a week of firsts. The first of the month fell on a Sunday, starting September on a nice, neat note. (Unless you're in Czechia, where the calendar week starts on Monday.) With the first on a Sunday, the calendar looks like a crisp rectangular shape of order that makes me feel like I just might have a chance at keeping my act together. If there were only 28 days in a month, every month would look like a neat rectangle of orderly promise and hope. A sort of Begin again! for every month!

September's particular Begin again! is, of course, about the first day of school. (Unless you already started school like some school districts and colleges do. If that's the case, humor me and keep reading.) 

We had a lot to celebrate on the first day of school. It was the first day of K-12 school for only two of our five-kid crew. Only two! With a second year of breakfast and lunch provided by the state of Minnesota, instead of yelling over one another to cut the carrots and slice the apples, and Don't forget your lunch box!, we enjoyed a new first of standing outside together - all of us, including College Student 3.0 who enjoyed his first day of not going to secondary school - for a good 15 minutes while waiting for the bus. That "first" only happened on the first day of school.

Tucked into this past week were plenty of other firsts. For example, this is the first year I didn't buy a single school supply. And the first year the kids happily scrounged and repurposed school supplies already in our home.

The 4th grader is our first kid to go to after-school childcare because it's the first time we don't have an older sibling to watch the younger ones.

The 4th-grade teacher became the first to have all five of our kids in her class.

The 6th grader became a 7th grader, embracing those first days of junior high school. She missed her first classes due to her own extracurricular activities. She brought home the first homework we've seen probably since the 4th grade. For the first time, she stayed up "late" (for her) to finish said homework. She didn't cry about it. A tear-free first.

We have our first footballer, who had his first football game, and our first swimmer, who had her first swim meet (and a second, and a third one today), both on the first day of school. Both sports are firsts for us as a family. For the first time, I either don't know some parents, or I can't remember their names. For the first time, other parents might look at us like we're the old parents. Today, we're headed to our first out-of-town sporting event to lather parental support on our child.

For the first time since 2019, we don't have to worry about ACT scores, college admissions, or scholarship essays.

College Kid 3.0 tackled a series of college-readiness tasks on his own. He got his first haircut for curly hair. He arranged his own dental and medical appointments. First kid to have college start later than everybody else. First time he's felt like he's "the last one" now that his friends have all gone off to college. First one who still needs to start writing his graduation thank-you cards. First kid to save his mother by researching the perfect phone for her, figuring out how to save her $500 on said phone, and transferring all the data from the old phone to the new phone. I bought him lunch from Daisy Gardens on a school day during the day. That's a first.

College Kid 2.0 is living in his first off-campus housing. He's navigating a load of firsts: first landlord, first purchases like a bed, a desk, and a dresser. First kitchen appliances and first kid I've given our extra cookware to. First discovery of what happens when you store your clothes in a damp basement. First conflict when the roommate wants him to go in on a $200 air fryer purchase. First time donating plasma to earn money. First time cooking rotini salad for himself and sharing a photo in our family Snapchat.

College Kid 1.0 started her first (and only) year of graduate school. She'll be the first to earn a Master's degree. First "back to school" for her that doesn't include her usual gaggle of friends, most of whom are in their first jobs scattered across the country. First quarter where she has the most free time. First time she doesn't know what to do with it.

My husband tells me that this week he bought his first real, original, from Czechia, brewing malt.

And for me - I took my usual coffee cake recipe and improvised it for the first time to make a chocolate cake. I had a can of forgotten dark cherries in the cupboard that I threw in as well. My family was pleasantly surprised. That's not a first, but the feeling I get in my heart in response to their enjoyment is similar to the thrill of being a first.

There's one thing that isn't a first and that's enjoying all of the First Day of School photos family and friends post on Facebook. That's probably my favorite "first" of all.

First STEM Egg Drop...

...and launch.