It’s August already. I get so excited looking down the back-to-school aisles at the store. Boxes of crayons with perfect points, notebooks with hundreds of blank pages, cute pencil cases waiting to be filled. Every row, bag, and box contains possibilities. I love back-to-school shopping.

For the past three or four years, we have taken part in a backpack drive for foster children sponsored by a local radio station. We got to pick out a backpack then fill it with the items on The List to donate. This allowed me to have all the fun of back-to-school shopping even though I did not have a school-aged child. I’d pray for whoever would get “my” backpack, that they’d have a good school year even though they were probably at a new school, surrounded by strangers, and adjusting to some major life changes. Unfortunately, that radio station got bought out by another that is not so community-minded, and the backpack drive did not happen this year.

But this year I still got to do some shopping. We don’t have a back-to-schooler, we have a “new-to-schooler.” Hannah will be starting a two-day preschool at a Baptist church five minutes from our house. The program came highly recommended, and we are so excited for her to start. She is so social and loves to be around other kids, so this will be a great opportunity for her to have lots of fun playtime and maybe learn some things along the way. :)

We do not have an extensive supply list to check off, just some basics like baby wipes, Kleenex, and snacks, but there have been some fun purchases as well. We got Hannah a little backpack, a lunch bag, and a small sleeping bag for “rest time.” My label-maker has been busy as I am slapping name labels on any item she could possibly take.

When we enrolled last March, the first day of school seemed so far away. Now it is only weeks down the calendar. And even though this is not “real school,” I’m feeling those twinges of realization that my baby is growing up. She gets to be part of a class, have two sweet teachers, make new friends, and have some adventures on her own.

And me? I get to figure out what to do with two free mornings a week!