First 5 Friday (Saturday)

School starts next Monday for most of us in the Lone Star State. But, although there is dread, I would like to take the three of you that read this and my wife, back to a time when you were a little tyke.

First 5 Best Things About the First Day of School

5. The Clean Slate-You get to start fresh. If you were a dweeb, you can be Joe Cool. If you had troubles in school the year before, you have at least one teacher who has never met you. You can be the Fonz or even Ritchie Cunningham if you wish.

4. The smell of the grass-It is usually freshly cut. It does have a waning scent of Spring revisited, but it's there. You can smell it especially right before the first football game (see below) as the greatest spectator sport on earth begins.

3. Shopping-Mainly the ladies love this, but it is cool to be wearing fresh clothes that had just gotten detagged. It will take at least until October before I would ruin them.

2. Football-No need to clarify, is there?

1. A chance to see old friends-Because I lived in the country, I didn't see my school buds until...well...school. There is so much wrong with facebook, but the one thing I enjoy is catching up with people I haven't seen. In fact, I actually caught up with a girl I haven't seen in almost twenty years.

School is a time of dread and anxiety for your kids, no matter how tall or small. The teachers sometimes feel the same sense of foreboding as they try to guide the unknowing into the unknown. Please enjoy the ride, the bumps and the scrapes. Without these, your kid probably wouldn't be educated to the fullest.

Good luck this school year and God bless.

Next First 5 should be worth a look next week, so tune in next week for a "Kid's say the darnedest things" edition..