First Day of School Blessing

Bless the buses,

bless the mamas,

Bless the babies

in pajamas,

Bless the ones

who go to learn,

Dogs will wait

'til they return

from Bless Us All, by Cynthia Rylant

The sweet poem hearkens to the day when the mom in her calico apron waved goodbye to the children getting on the bus, with a baby on her hip.  The dad had already left for work in his Thunderbird.  A normal family.

Truth is, on this first day of school in ISD 196 I can't think of one single "normal" family.  We have moms that work, dads that travel, private school, home school, divorce, and countless other variations on the theme of a family.  So here is another version of the poem:

Bless the Schmoo

and bless her brother

Bless grandfathers 

and grandmothers

Bless their Daddy

while he's traveling

Keep their mother

from unraveling. . . 

Bless the kids 

as lessons start

Play the music

from their hearts

I'll take credit for that one. . . . God Bless all the kids and all the teachers on the first day of school, whenever you started!