What I Missed Today

I just got home from a fourteen hour work day. I have a lot of them this time of year. Not a big deal. What is a big deal to me, though, is that I missed my son's first day of Grade 2.

For Kindergarten and Grade 1, both Francine and I were there.  This year, however, I wasn't able to be here for the first day of school ritual (cue up Cat Stevens' "Cats in the Cradle").

Fortunately, Francine took some pictures, so I could at least see what I missed.

Here are a couple of nice shots of Alexander on his way to school.

Here's ye olde standard first day of school shot . . . .

Then the old "look over the shoulder to show off my new Star Wars Clone Wars backpack" shot . . .

Of course, in the evening, after school, Alexander got his hands on the camera and took a few shots of his own. Experimental fun shots - the kind that show his creative, and "hey, let's check this out" approach that I so love.

There's the: "Look at me posing with the blue bird I bought for Mom at French River." (One of about a dozen self-pics with this bird) . . .

Then there's the: "Hey, look at me posing in front of a digital picture frame that has me in it!"

Then we have the classic: "Oh, look, a mirror! That'd be a great shot!" picture . . .

Followed by a: "Hmm, let me get this up close" shot that ended up turning into a pretty stylish and funky picture, due to the shaky hand blur.

Yes, I missed the first day of school ritual. But I think what I missed more was that fun playful evening I could have spent with my son.

And I'm thankful that though I missed some fun stuff today that I'm usually there for a good part of those playful moments . . . it makes me feel fresh and young.