school

I've been pondering the whole idea of "school", also known as public education.  I've wondered when it occurred to parents to send their little ones off for someone else to attend to.  Mom made a valid point that parents way back when weren't educated so they sent them to others to teach their children.  I wonder if it ever occurred to the uneducated parent to learn along with their children or to perhaps educate themselves so they could pass on some form of education to those entrusted to their care.  Of course the educated teachers were never educated until they took it upon themselves to acquire an education.  Was that the beginning of a lazy America?  I do wonder. 

I found that school in Greek took on the definition of originally meaning "leisure".  Leisure simply means the freedom from work or duty.  I will agree that the public education I was blessed with made it very easy to be commonplace, required no extra work out of me and definitely did not instill a love of learning or a desire to acquire knowledge on my own; which would have indeed been work.  I liked my school of leisure and believe they did an excellent job if they were going after the Greek's meaning of the word school. 

As the school bus plows down my street or stalls me on the highway I remember it's school time again.  School supplies overflow from bargain bins picked over from aggravated parents complaining of the Kindergarten supply list...seriously..."my kid never even blows his nose, why does he need 15 boxes of tissue!"  Department stores have raked in the green selling new fall clothes for Texas' 90 degree weather.  Kids need new school clothes though...and backpacks, pencil bags, 18 boxes of crayons, scissors, folders, shoes, etc.  It is that time of year.

With all the hustle and bustle of school starting, my family has done their fair share of preparing.  We've met the teacher and the kids are super excited!.  Desks are clean, folders are filled, pencils are sharpened, book baskets are full......nature is waiting, there's art to be painted, deep thoughts to ponder, character traits to be instilled, lessons to be learned, forgiveness to be shown and grace to be given....we're ready for life.