It’s been a while since the first day of school, but my parents made me promise to post pictures of the experience, so here they are:
We have a bit of a tradition where we give the kids Schultüten — German “school cones.” When I was a kid, my family was stationed in Bavaria, and I’d always see pretty school cones hanging in shop windows, and thought they were neat. Parents fill the cones with fun school supplies (pencils, colorful erasers, stickers, etc.) and other treats to give kids the night before the first day of school.
(So, I should admit: my reaction to seeing these in German shop windows as a child was more like “What? German kids get presents for the first day of school? How come I don’t get a present?!?”)
I don’t have the patience to form paper into proper cones, so we have something more like “school triangles.” The kids don’t seem to care:
Here’s Jeffrey on the first day of second grade. He loves school so much!
William was thrilled to go back to preschool for another year:
And Eleanor had her first day of kindergarten. She’s very proud of her polka-dot backpack:
Ella’s teacher allowed parents to come into the classroom on the first day of school, which was wonderful. I helped Eleanor decorate a paper leaf with a picture of what she did this summer. She drew herself swimming in her pink swimsuit:
Then Ella’s teacher sang a “welcome” song to everybody. Ms. O. is adorable; just barely taller than her students, it seems.
It looks like the beginning of a great year! (Excepting the continued complaints I get about Jeffrey’s problems in school . . . siiiiigh.)
Casa Camisas 
If I remember right, you got Jeffrey on some medication for his attention issues, correct? Have those not helped as much as you’d hoped? What sort of problems is he still having?
By the way, forgot to mention it, but Zuckertueten (as I know them) rock! I have a picture of me on my first day of school in Berlin with a huge blue cone bigger than I am, full of goodies. I think that’s a great idea to do one for my kids. Had never even considered it! Thanks for the suggestion.
From now on I demand a cone every year when I need to return to school.
I love the look on Eleanor’s face in the cone picture. Like she is about to open her eyes and have all her dreams come true.
Love it! You’re such a fun mom. I love the belly button Ella put on her swimsuit picture. Very cute. You are so good about remembering things, I don’t remember the cones. How fun though. Maybe I’ll have to steal your idea.
Those are very precious memories! What a great start to the school year. I love the excitement over school supplies picture—maybe we should rethink Christmas presents;)