Call me old-fashioned

Today Maple Dale's second graders celebrated "Old-fashioned School Day!" Sammy's been preparing for this occasion for weeks, including selecting just the right garments! And since there were no lunchboxes or backpacks back in the 1840's, this was all Sammy took to school.

The contents of his lunch were authentic, too...everything fresh and not processed (not to mention no plastic or aluminum foil). Sam dined on homemade bread (thanks, Nonna!), a hard-boiled egg, parmesan cheese, apple slices and carrots. The school gave the kids water to drink and a few other snacks.

A little folding + two knots = instant lunchbox! (The art of furoshiki--folding fabric to make bags for lunches, etc.--is very Japanese, in case anyone is wondering. I hope I made my Japanese friends proud today!)

Here are Addison (another second grader) and Sammy at the bus stop. It seriously does not get cuter than this!

A few more of Sam's buddies waiting for the bus. Fantastic!

Here's Sam's class. Did I mention that the kids all had to memorize a poem to recite today? Sammy learned the first two stanzas of "Speak Gently" by George Washington Langford. It has a very nice message!

The kids also had an old-fashioned spelling bee and, thanks to lots of practice, Sammy placed second in his class! He stumbled on the word "flattery," and then his friend Ciaran spelled it correctly. We're very proud that he got that far!

Like the quill Sammy made with a pencil and a paper feather?? He even practiced his cursive with it!

All the old-school lunches!

A fine looking bunch of pioneers and a memorable day!

P.S. Sammy made this little covered wagon at school. Once home, it became a paddy wagon (driven by Lego law enforcement) for a criminal bug.