School and Dads
Category: Local...
Posted Monday, August 18, 2003 at 05:31 PM [GMT-6]

Today was the first day of the new school year in Midland (Odessa, too, I guess). My morning dog-walking route takes me past an elementary school, and it was abuzz with activity, in vivid contrast to the deserted feel it's had for the past 10 weeks.

No one walks to elementary school on the first day. Parents want to escort the kids -- especially the first graders -- to make sure they know the way to go. I was especially happy to see how many dads were taking part in this ritual. I don't remember my dad taking me to school my first day, but then we lived three miles out of town and I rode the bus... and when we moved into town, I lived across the alley from school; I didn't even have to cross a street to get there. But, really, the gesture has nothing to do with the physical distance you've traveled to reach the first grade. It's the temporal and emotional distance that makes it a milestone, and parents should be there to mark it.

By way of contrast, our niece and nephew entered the 9th grade today. They don't get to actually enter high school; Midland has separate campuses just for freshman. But don't try to tell them they aren't in high school! Anyway, at this stage it's a serious mistake for parents to deliver their kids on the first day of school. Talk about receiving the Nerd Mark for eternity. There's simply no way to ever live down the ignominy of having dad drive up in his Accord and let you out in front of what otherwise would have been your peers, but who are now your judges.

Anyway, I'm thrilled for those kids who have dads who know when to show up... and when to back off. And, with any luck, those same kids will understand and appreciate their fortune before too many decades pass.