Dear World Layout

The flu bugs are slowly making their way through the whole house. My poor daughter has some kind of tummy bug. We had a long night and a mountain of laundry to deal with today. She is sleeping right now though....in fact, everyone is sleeping right now so I have a chance to share another layout using the Scrap Treasures February kit. The Daisy Bucket Love You papers are so versatile. You can do so much more with these than typical Valentine-theme papers.

This layout was inspired by a poem emailed to me from my good friend Sunny when Addison started kindergarten. This picture was taken the first day of school. Although she was a very brave and excited little girl, I know that deep down she was anxious and apprehensive. It was almost like she let her guard down for this picture with her dad.

And here is the poem. But I'm warning you...grab a tissue first.

Dear World:

I bequeath to you today one little girl... in a crispy dress… with two blue
eyes... and a happy laugh that ripples all day long... and a flash of light blond
hair that bounces in the sun when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning...and
skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never
again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave
her young and independent hand this morning and say "Goodbye" and
walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now she'll learn to stand in lines... and wait by the alphabet for her
name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of
schoolbells... and deadlines... and she'll learn to giggle... and gossip...and
look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy 'cross the
aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And, now she'll learn to be jealous.
And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside.
And now she'll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer
day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in the sidewalk. Nor will
she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn and kiss lilac blooms
in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about those important
things... like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friend
is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the
magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes.

For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and
playmate and father and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship
with her teachers... which is only right.

But, no longer will I be the smartest, greatest man in the whole
world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time...she'll
learn what it means to be a member of the group...with all
its privileges and its disadvantages too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud...
or kiss dogs... or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms... or even watch
ants scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer.

Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are
not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start
out on the long, lonely journey to becoming a woman.

So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl... in a crispy
dress... with two blue eyes...and a flash of light blond hair that
bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

- Victor Buono