Butterflies

There is something fragile about the first days of school.  There are butterflies everywhere.  Butterflies in backpacks, butterflies in lunch boxes, butterflies in the feet of displaced newcomers, butterflies in the eyes of those scanning the schoolyard for familiar faces on that very first fresh morning in the uncharted terrain of new teachers, new classrooms, and new aspirations.

Did you know that there are also butterflies in the daybooks of the teachers, who have been contemplating the return to school throughout much of the summer, with increasing intensity as August wanes and September approaches? Did you know that some of us spend those precious months dreaming up new experiences for your little ones to explore, and hopefully cherish? Did you know that we leave the cottage for professional development courses that challenge our thinking and put us on new paths to our classroom door? We do this for love; love of the treasures with which you entrust us each morning; love of the dynamic of a building built for learning; love of the journey that we share in this lofty endeavour of education.

And so yes, there are butterflies in our daybooks, butterflies in our inboxes, butterflies in each piece of furniture we arrange and each item we place so intentionally in this space we share.  There are butterflies in our class lists, as we look at unfamiliar names and wonder who will be the timid ones who are afraid of dinosaurs, who will be the wiggly ones with energy for us all, who will be the vocal ones with ideas for us all, and who will be the bright lights that come and visit us every day at recess to share some music and some hope.

Thank-you for all you do to love your little souls and send them to school ready to thrive.  Thank-you for supporting your child’s education with your time, your concern, and your votes.  Thank-you for those lovely notes you send us to remind us that we are appreciated and valued.  Thank-you for sharing your own butterflies with us as you photograph your children on that first fragile day of school, as we all find our wings and take flight.  Thank-you.