TIL Tuesday, Volume 3

My list is short today – because it’s kind of a special day.

1. THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
Of course I love the first day of school. I love that my daughters were both awake and ready by 6:30 (really, that’s okay. I swear. I was awake, too). I love that they didn’t give me any fuss over breakfast, even though I couldn’t make muffins like I promised because someone used the last egg yesterday. I love that they helped me get backpacks ready to go and they got their shoes on without any drama. I loved dropping off Pumpkin at her daycare and that she immediately engaged with people and toys and barely took the time to kiss me goodbye before running off to hang out with forgotten friends. I loved taking The Princess to Starbucks and getting her a hot cocoa while I grabbed a cappuccino and talking with her and catching her beautiful face on camera – trying desperately to get a candid shot. (Failing, I might add). I loved watching her get on the school bus and then racing to her school so I could watch her get off that same school bus and walk her into her classroom. I loved watching her lead the way to hang her backpack in her locker and barely waiting for me to say, “Later gator” before diving into her day.

And right now, I’m working – and the house is quiet. I went out to grab a sandwich for lunch and came home to a house that remains quiet still. In a few hours, the school bus brings one child home and together we’ll pick up her sister and I’ll hear how they spent their days separate from me, and I’ll love their enthusiasm and their stories and their laughter about their adventures. It’s a day of what can be. I love it.

2. THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH
The transcript can be found here and I have to say that I loved it. I believe the President is an office that we should teach our kids to respect, whether or not we agree with the politics of the person who inhabits it. I rarely speak about my politics and my preferences, and I’ll keep it that way because there are blogs for that – and this ain’t it. But, many of you already know that yes, I happened to have voted for that dude that currently calls the Oval Office his own, and no, I never had any qualms about him speaking to our children. And if my kids hear messages like this every day, I’m totally okay with it.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying. 

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

-Barack Obama