First Day at School : Our Photoshoot Tradition

As the first day of school dawns, I find myself a tad emotional. I sense the passage of time with a twinge of sadness and plethora of clichés. Oh it was only yesterday when we were researching schools, then enrolling her in a nearby montessori. How time flies! How she has grown! How we have grown.....sigh.

This year, Anya started first grade. I did a photoshoot for her at a herb garden outside our apartment. She wasn't the most cooperative kid around but a promise of TV time elicited required poses for a few precious minutes. 

I would like to maintain this tradition of first and last day of school photoshoots till she graduates from college.

The photoshoot set me thinking about her first year at school. We had celebrated it with a 'Vidyabhyas' at Bua's home and later, a 'School beginning party' at our place.

Do you have any interesting traditions around first day of school? Do share.

The power of stars and smileys

Since the time Anya has started school, I have discovered the power of stars and smileys. One day when I went to pick her up, she was bursting with excitement. "Look, Mamma! Teacher Aunty gave me a star. She thrust her fist triumphantly at me to admire, where her teacher had drawn a smiley with a marker. She was evidently proud of it. I hugged her and joined in her exultation.

Now she gets smileys and stars for her classwork and homework. She has started to understand that if Ma'am underlines something, then it's not good and her chances of getting a smiley are bleak. Whenever she does her work at home, she gives herself a smiley as a mark of self-approval.

In the US at Costco, the receipt checker draws a smiley on the receipt. It is such a simple gesture, but one that thrills her no end each time! 

She looks forward to it. If the person takes extra effort to draw her sketch with wavy hair or make her hold a balloon, she is on cloud nine!

It warms my heart to see how a simple gesture lights up a kid's world! Maybe that's the reason people smile at babies and kids. They really take it to heart and respond with the sweetest genuineness!