Why parents mark, and mourn, the last first day of school
LA TimesThis column is the latest in a series on parenting children in the final years of high school, “Emptying the Nest.” Read the previous installment, about being freed from motherhood’s mundane tasks, here. After weeks of preparing myself for the emotions of “the last first day,” the start of my youngest child’s senior year was distinctly anticlimactic. Neither my husband nor I was required to act as human alarm clocks, ticking down the minutes before “we really have to leave.” On her last first day, we didn’t have to go anywhere. On my daughter’s last first day of high school, I set aside time in the afternoon to discuss, and celebrate, the occasion. Yes, they will include the nightmare of college applications as well as the ongoing pressure of AP classes, basketball, community service and the inevitable welter of extracurriculars — as students are continually told, senior year should be fun, but they’re still building those all important “résumés.” But these are the last of the last days in high school for us all, and while a daily balloon drop is not feasible — so messy, and bad for the environment — they are worth celebrating.
History of this topic
It’s the first day back at school – and I cried the whole way home
The Independent
Goodbye at the school gate
Live Mint
Goodbye at the school gate
Live Mint
Back to School: first-time school mums share their mixed emotions
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