Ah, the good old days...

It's official. School ended on Thursday and summer is now in full swing. You'd never know it if you only took the cold weather into account.

Matthew is now a fifth-grader and Lucas has been promoted to second grade. Matthew, in particular, is excited about his new standing. He's now a member of the school's highest grade. He has been selected to serve as a crossing guard next year, a privilege he has waited for since he started there three years ago. (You might think he wants to make a fashion statement in his flourescent orange crossing-guard jacket, but between you and me, I think he's doing it to get the free tickets to the local amusement park that come with the job....). Not a bad start for what I'm sure is going to be an impressive resumé.

Two weeks before the end of the semester, the school held an "old fashioned day". The objective was to show kids how good they've got it today, although it was put into more kid-appropriate terms like "teach respect", "understand schooling from a historical perspective", etc. At first I thought it was a silly idea. The boys had to wear clothes that school children would have worn 100 years ago, and they had to bring a lunch that was not packed in anything plastic.

Luckily, one of the other moms found a store where we could rent old-fashioned clothes. The boys were so handsome!

As for the meal, I wrapped their sandwiches in wax paper and tied them with a string. I thought this was quite original. Matthew and Lucas spent days practicing their bowing (they had to bow every time they met a teacher or another adult -- for an entire day!).

Parents were invited to join the children in the schoolyard that day and I have to say it was one of the most impressive sights I've seen at the school. Each class lined up neatly behind their teacher. Each and every student was clean. They had their hair combed and their clothes were neat. There was not one sighting of butt-showing pants, a pierced nose or purple hair. When the principal rang the bell and began his inspection round (each class was inspected), the courtyard -- filled with 400 students -- was quiet for nearly 15 minutes!

My original opinion of the project was wrong. The kids learned something about respect for their elders, about the importance of neatness, about the changes that have happened in our school systems over the past 100 years. I think at least some of that rubbed off on them as they completed their schoolwork for the year.

Perhaps it should be a full-time project for next year?