This is the second Mary Lee story I have shared. Over By the Tree Sits a Memory was the first. It features a lovely older lady named Mary Lee and her thoughts on how quickly children grow up.

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Sarah sat in a rocking chair beside her mom cradling a tall glass of sweet tea as she rocked. Her crying had left her breathless and she was now taking deep breathes as her mother had advised her to do. Mary Lee rocked beside her on the porch that summer morning waiting for Sarah’s emotions to settle. She had known Sarah would probably been stopping by this morning.

Sarah had arrived at her house in tears with a frantic look on her face. She had just dropped two of her children including Davey her youngest at Simpsonville United Methodist Preschool moments earlier. Mary Lee was grateful that she and Frank lived only minutes from the school. Sarah hadn’t looked like she would have been able to drive much further.

After hugging Sarah for ten minutes or so, Mary Lee had guided her oldest daughter to the porch and given her a wad of tissue and glass of tea. She had encouraged to take deep breathes and sip the sweet tea to help her calm down.

Sarah didn’t remember being this upset when she had dropped Lydia and William of a preschool. She remember them crying, but she had been excited for them.

When Sarah’s emotions seemed to have calmed, Mary Lee had asked her to share what the morning had been like so far.

Sarah ran through the getting ready for school routine.

Each child had special pancake waiting at their place at the table. Sarah always made smiley face pancakes with blueberry eyes, a chocolate chip nose, and a bacon mouth for the first day of school.

Lydia and William had headed off to their rooms to put on their first day of school clothes and new shoes. Lydia had tan Mary Jane’s with rhinestones and William had new sneakers with blinking lights.

Sarah had guided her three year old Davey to the room he shared with William to help him put on his new robot t-shirt, khaki shorts, and sneakers with racing stripes. William could put his arms in his shirt after it was pulled over his head and was able to pull up his shorts after your helped him put the right leg in the correct leg hole. Shoes on the other hand were difficult. Even his slip on sneakers seemed to frustrate him. Sarah still had to help him put them on.

After everyone was dressed and had their hair had been brushed ,the backpacks and lunch boxes were gathered up. Davey and Lydia really didn’t need a lunch boxes, but Mama you had bought them one anyway. You had told them that they could come to your house to celebrate Davey’s his first day of preschool with lunch with you under the big tree in the front yard and share about their day.

John, Sarah’s husband, took a picture of each of the children dressed for school on their own and individually. John needed to head off to work in a few minutes, but he loved getting to be a part of the first day by taking pictures.

After the pictures were done, the children were piled into the car and strapped in. When Sarah had looked into the backseat via the rear view mirror, her children looked excited and ready to go. Tears had threatened to start as she back out of the driveway, but she was able to contain them.

The first stop was William’s elementary school. It was less than a ten minute drive from their house. As soon as the car had pulled up to the unloading zone. William had jumped out of the car and headed to the door. It had only been just as he went through the door that he turned and blew his mom a kiss and waved good-bye.

Then it was off to Simpsonville United Methodist where Lydia would be in the K4 class and Davey would be in the K3. Sarah a hoped there would be a number of red lights on the way that would delay the inevitable, but they had been all green.

Sarah was able to find a parking spot in the crowded lot. Every parent was required to escort their children in during the first week of school. That meant every parent had to find a place to park during the morning drop off. If the lot had been full, Sarah would have had to circle until a spot had opened up, but she had had no such luck.

Lydia was ready to leap out of the car as soon as Sarah had come around to open her door. Davey had been more tentative. He had been to the preschool many times to drop of his siblings and to attend various family events, but he had never stayed behind on his own.

Despite her desire to keep Davey strapped in and take him home, she had unbuckled him and helped him leap down from his car seat. “Everything is going to be wonderful!” she had reassured him. “You have wonderful teachers and your friend Joe will be in your class.”

“I know,” Davey had said in a whisper. “Are you going to be okay?” he had asked her. “I can start on Thursday if you need me to stay home today,” he had commented after grabbing her hand.

“No, I think I will be okay,” she had said forcing herself to smile and walk towards the entrance of the preschool.

They had first gone to Lydia’s room and helped her hang up her backpack. She was thrilled to see many of the same children from her class last year. She had given Sarah a hug and then bounded to a work table where the teachers had set out puzzles.

Davey had started slowly down the hall with Sarah stopping to point out the bathroom, the office, and the library. Each time Sarah had commended him for remembering where each of the rooms were.

Their pace slowed to a creep as they neared his door. It was like they were both walking in slow motion. It was like they both were putting off getting there.

When they finally arrived, Sarah had helped Davey take his backpack off and hang it on the right peg. Mrs. Robinson, one of Davey’s teachers, had welcomed them to class and offered to introduce Davey to some of the students that had already arrived. Sarah had bent down to hug her youngest and wipe away a small tear.

“Mama, Mrs. Robinson had take Davey‘s hand a guide him to a table with small blocks on it“ Sarah said rocking in her chair. “I’m not sure either one of us would have let go.”

I blew him a kiss and watched him place it in this pocket before I turned to walk away to walk into the hall.

“I tried Mama. I really tried to hold back the tears, but they forced their way out and tumbled from my eyes before I made it out of the building,” Sarah sighed.

“It is totally normal,” Mary Lee assured her daughter as she reached out to stroke her arm. “Many mamas go through this. I bet there were mamas all over the parking lot sitting in their mini vans in tears.

“I am so glad you were home,” Sarah sighed again. “ I just don’t think I could go home to an empty house today. I am not sure I could have driven through my tears much further than your house.”

“ I glad I was here too,” Mary Lee replied. “ I love that I can be here for you. You know I went through a similar challenge when your little sister Martha started school. I think I spent the whole morning crying.

“Really?”Sarah had questioned.

“Yes, I did and I think we need to do what I did that day once you finish your glass of tea. So, take your time finishing and we will go into the kitchen and make apple turnovers to have with Lydia and Davey when they came for lunch.

“Cooking always helps me feel better,” Martha said finally feel a little better. “Me too,” said Mary Lee rocking back and forth slowly in her chair.

Sarah sat in a rocking chair beside her mom cradling a tall glass of sweet tea as she rocked.

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday and Mama Kat’s Writing Workshop. It contains many back to school traditions. They are special pancakes, new clothes and shoes, blowing a kiss and having your child keep it in their pocket, crying moms, needing a place to go that isn’t home, and a special lunch with people you love to share your day with.

I am hosting a Back to School Traditions Link Up. If you have a post on Back to School pictures and/or traditions. I would love for you to link it up!