New Year's Day

Forget January 1st. For us, the first day of school is the real New Year's Day.

That school bell rings in new faces and new schedules -- wholesale changes, not just new Daytimer pages.

The largest backpack in the world can't contain the collective campus excitement of that first morning of the first day of the school year, when everyone -- students, teachers, parents, and even the vice principal in charge of discipline -- smiles.

I hugged my middle schooler and said, "Have a great day."

But what I really meant was,
"Have a great year."