First Day of School

First day of school, 1979:

Jon in his first leisure suit, 

looking manly and important in khaki,

Jeff in brown, 

and Lisa in a navy top and pants 

with bright bumblebee stripes.

I group them by the door for a photo:

First Day of School,

all innocent and smiling,

sent off unknowingly

to a jury of their peers.

Stephanie is sad she isn't big enough to go.

She looks sadly out the window 

as they troop down the sidewalk.

First day of school after school:

They slam in the back door,

fling down their packs, 

shed their shoes in a heap.

How was it? I ask brightly.

Jon flings off his suit jacket.

"I'm never doing that again! 

We looked like idiots, the only ones in suits."

Lisa : "The kids called me Bumblebee all day!"

(In fact, they called her Bumblebee all year!)

I never heard the end of it.

I'd been so proud, as a single mom of four, 

to manage new outfits, 

school supplies and backpacks.

I meant well. 

But that Bumblebee suit still comes up in conversation,

every now and then, 35 years later.

LOL. for Gabriella's prompt at dVerse: Back to School.