First day of school (repeat)

 It's that time of year again -- the first day of school.

Like 100s -- no, make that 1000s -- wait, no make that 10,000s -- of parents have done, we take pictures each year of our children before they leave home for a new school year. Social media is bursting with these milestone-like pictorial tributes.

Many families have each child hold a sign, or handwritten note, usually with their names, school, and the grades they're entering. One family -- and I admit we had conceived this -- had each child with an easel-like board that included their favorite song, food, and what they want to do when they grow up. It must be fun for that family to mark time in those ways.

Ours has been flat-out pedestrian by comparison. It's picture of each child on our front porch, and a picture of them together. Except we didn't get the brothers picture this year, because Isaiah needed to be at school early for all-state choir practice. That in and of itself is a new development, and a different marker for this year.

For the record, Nathaniel enters 11th grade, Isaiah enters 9th.

Here they are:

And, here they are just three years ago:

A lot changes quickly, huh?

To me, the pictures truly do tell me a lot about the boys -- what they preferred to wear, their hairstyles, their demeanor, and of course how they looked physically. It also shows we got our house painted during that time, too, thank goodness.

So, while not a perfect record of the annual march of time with our kids, it shows us something, even if the way we present it is a little convenient and contrived.

And, it's a great way to go back, year after year, and marvel at quickly our kids have changed and how fleeting our time really is with them.