Do you remember getting your lunch box? The smell of freshly sharpened pencils? Looking to see who was in your class roster? Meeting your teacher for the first time?

My first grade teacher, Mrs. Kunnell, had been my brother's first grade teacher 7 years before me. So when I went to her classroom with my mother that first day (oh so many years ago), Mrs. Kunnell gave me a great big hug. Overwhelmed me a bit as I was shy back then. I know, unbelievable, right?

I'm flooded with memories of that first year. I remember putting letters together and forming words. Suddenly, I'd notice words everywhere! And I could read them! I remember my friend, Michelle, got the chicken pox, and when she came back to school she had to sit away from everyone else for a couple of days. I thought that was cruel. I remember a girl who wore white go-go boots every day, her heels clopping down the hall. I remember Jana and Greg calling me names. "Leanna, banana!" It did not make me laugh. And I remember my friend, Debra, who sat next to me. She came to school one Monday morning. I said, "How was your weekend?" "My mommy died." Our class bought her a bracelet and gave it to her.

Today, as I go to school for my kid's first day of class (I know, it's kind of weird but that's how their school does it. I go today, my kids start Wednesday), I wonder what experiences they will have. How their character will be formed by different events in their lives. How they will grow and change and develop. It's an exciting time for them. I pray it will be a wonderfully positive experience. But I know there will be fabulous times and difficult times ahead. I can't protect them from the bad, just as I wouldn't protect them from the good. I just pray for God's wisdom that I will know how to help guide them and love them through it all.

What do you remember about the first day of school or your first school year?