First week of school, third grade

Aidan is not one of those kids that looks forward to the first day of school. Unlike other kids, he can't be fooled into thinking a new backpack, lunchbox, and clothes outweigh being stuck in a room eight hours a day forced to work.

It's not like he goes kicking and screaming. He gets that school is inevitable for a nine-year-old in America. But when well-intentioned adults asked him all August whether he was excited to go back to school, they would all get the same half-shrug and "Not really" response. It always surprised me when I asked other kids about whether they were excited to go back to school and I would get an "Oh boy, I can't wait" reply. I would look at them kind of suspiciously and back away slowly. Especially in Utah when the beginning of school marks the inevitable decline into winter.

That being said, Aidan's first week of school last week went remarkably well. Especially the first morning. We all know that my love of Sugar House knows no bounds, but sometimes the awesomeness of my street overwhelms even me.

We had planned to walk with Mary, Marin, and Julian the first day of school.

Setting off

We picked up Max a few houses down

By the time we reached Marin and Julian's house, we had a group of 15 Wilson Avenue people walking to school together. Excitement was in the air as kids compared new clothes and backpacks. The moms chattered excitedly about the relative merits of the kid's new teachers and principal.  We all took pictures and walked together to Dilworth before giving last hugs and wishing our kids well.

By the end of the street, the kids were rolling deep

Last year was Aidan's first year at Dilworth and I remember him waiting in line nervously, not knowing a soul in his class. He ended up getting lost at lunch with another new kid Owen and made his first friend, but at the beginning of the day he was intimidated by all these kids who have known each other since birth.

This year, Aidan was all laughs and chatter as he saw kids in his class that he already knew. It was an adorable reunion that I was honored to witness.

Third grade boys with a crying photobomber in the background

Aidan and Max

Confident and stylin'

That first morning really set the tone for the rest of the week. Aidan has said that every day so far has been a good day. I loved his teacher at Back to School night. Aidan has remembered to do things like having me sign his daily progress report and filling a "getting to know me" brown bag without reminders or prompting. He is even walking to school now in a group of kids every morning without adult supervision. This scares the living crap out of me, but I know it's great for his confidence, fitness, and bonding with other kids.

I often wonder how our life would be different if we were still living in LA.  I can't picture sending Aidan to school on his own in our old apartment where we literally walked underneath the 405 freeway stepping over homeless people to get to school. Although I loved Aidan's old school, it was a transient community of the children of people finishing advanced degrees, post docs, and residencies at UCLA. Sugar House is a forever home. People are invested in their community and have institutional knowledge about what Dilworth was like 5, 10, 15, or 20 years ago. In LA, parents were asked to give $400 per kid in addition to bags of school supplies because the budget crisis in California. At Dilworth, no such requests are made, yet every parent donates supplies and time because we want to. In Utah, Aidan's school looks like this:

Dilworth Elementary

In Los Angeles, Robert and I used to play a charming little game called "Prison or School?"

Kidding, but not really. 

In short, Aidan had his best first day of school ever. I have really good feelings about this year and so far we are 2/2 in great teachers at Dilworth. A great start and more reasons to love Utah!