There are so many things that make us forget the deep sighs of midterms and remind us of the magic of the fall semester - the smell of new pencils, the intensity of new highlighters and the crisp newness of notebooks not yet introduced to the beauty of the written word.

These things allow us a temporary break from the drudgery that comes with the lack of campus parking, the unexpected cancelation of classes and the fact that those new pencils, fresh notebooks and other college must-haves cost half the mortgage payment. 

Such is the metaphor for the balance of adulthood, I suppose. Just like real life, school can be expensive, stressful, and overwhelming - both for our kids and ourselves.

I am constantly staring at the overly energetic youth bouncing all over new classrooms, whether they're eight or eighteen. The first day of school can be a struggle, whether we are tearing up while dropping our five-year-olds off with their first teachers or staring with disbelief at the recent high school graduates that have become our academic peers. 

It takes incredible strength and fortitude to drop a child off and then keep our heads held high as we enter classrooms in which we are likely closer in age to the Ph.D. at the front of the class than we are to the other students.

But at the end of the day, after dinner is eaten and baths taken, we can smile and know that every day we educate our children and that every new semester we are accomplishing something amazing as well.