I rescued my daughter from the public school system in 2009, and we've pretty much never looked back. Until about a week ago, I'd have told you that neither of us had missed a thing.
She's starting community college tomorrow, and I've seen the error of my ways.
See, I'd completely forgotten about school clothes shopping.
Last week, I got a flyer in the mail advertising a shoe sale. Suddenly, it all came flooding back: the year that Tori bought all of her school clothes from the Avril Lavigne collection (you can never wear too many skulls and crossbones, right?); the fall that Matt wanted nothing but t-shirts featuring Goku from Dragon Ball Z; the end of the first summer Beth worked, when she was so proud and happy to be able to buy her own school clothes.
Thursday, we went school clothes shopping for the first time in five years.
Of course, we've bought new clothes during that time. Plenty of shoes, too. Since Tori got her own bank account, shoes seem to arrive on my doorstep more regularly than the local newspaper. But, there's something different about going out on the cusp of something new and building a wardrobe to suit what you want it to be.
So, that part was fun. We'll see what the school year holds.
