Modern Dad: The Last First Day
By Jon Show — You get a lot of firsts in life, followed by a bunch of lasts.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Twelve years ago, we walked Future Man from the back of the Legacy apartment complex on Westmoreland Road roughly a quarter-mile to his bus stop on the first day of kindergarten at J.V. Washam.
Based on the picture, I’m assuming he chose to dress himself for the occasion. Teal Hornets shirt. Blue gym shorts. Highlighter-orange socks and a pair of shoes so worn they look like they may have been a Christmas present. The kid was never into school shopping and he doesn’t exactly have a fashionista for a father.
We crossed the street, confused why a 5-year-old’s bus stop required traversing the busiest suburban road I had ever seen at 7 a.m. The bus rolled up, he dodged our attempts to hug him, and he was off.
I returned to our apartment, the Mother of Dragons went off to work, and I called CMS Transportation and immediately had a bus stop added to the north side of the street. No one seemed to disagree that 5-year-olds shouldn’t be playing Frogger every morning on the way to school.
The next morning the parents in Alexander Chase were justifiably unhappy. I assumed CMS would be smart enough to add a stop on the north side of the street and keep the south side stop. Alas, CMS was not and it took me two weeks of phone calls to fix it.
I retained day-to-day bus stop responsibilities over the years, but the Mother of Dragons always hung around for the first day of school to take the obligatory pictures. Often with me gesturing behind the front door window, or sometimes joining them with a sign that read something like “52nd grade,” which neither of them ever found funny.
But today, Future Man starts his senior year in high school. His last first day of grade school.
The Blonde Bomber has her first day at Hough today as a freshman. She rode to school with him this morning. Or I’m hoping she did. When I woke up, no one was here, so fingers crossed.
That’s right, I chose not to see them off this morning. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been around for the morning picture in a couple of years. I wasn’t getting out of bed to be around two kids who don’t want breakfast and don’t want their pictures taken.
Also, waving goodbye to two kids with a smile on my face while yelling, “Have a good day,” only to be greeted with eye rolls isn’t exactly the most gratifying way to get your day started.
But it’s here. His last first day of high school, followed in no time by his last day of high school. And then it’s off to college for more firsts.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Hopefully he showered before school.
Jon Show lives in Robbins Park with his wife, who he calls “The Mother of Dragons.” Their 17-year-old son is “Future Man” and their 14-year-old daughter is “The Blonde Bomber.” Their dog is actually named Lightning.
