“Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”

Joe Fox, “You’ve Got Mail”

For weeks I have been blasted with back-to-school ads. Value packs of pencils, spiral notebooks, colored pencils and of course my favorite, the 64-pack of classic Crayons. The box still comes with a built-in sharpener!

Don’t you just love the smell of Crayons? It is surpassed only by the scent of freshly sharpened pencils – that blend of cedar wood shavings and pencil lead so full of nostalgia. Apparently, I am not alone is my appreciation of this scent. 

According to the Perfume Society, there are several fragrances inspired by pencils. The Pencil Shavings diffuser offers a fragrance that “is satisfyingly dry and woody, with the cedar punctuated by mandarin, pink pepper, rose, cypress and a surrealistically realistic accord of novelty erasers and fresh notebooks.”

But I digress.

Although it has been years since I’ve had to shop sales for my own kids, I sill love the leadup to the first day of school. There is something hopeful about it. All things are possible. New friends. New concepts learned. New activities.

There’s finding the perfect back-to-school outfit, backpack and pencil case. Taking a first-day photo. Planning lunches. A new season of life is about to unfold.

As one would expect, homework battles, impossible math problems and friend drama soon set in. But for a few days, it is optimistic and exciting.

I still experience those emotions as the day approaches.

Maybe I should sharpen some pencils.