The Backpack

This is Kyler's Backpack from Kindergarden.

The last two months of Kindergarden, Kyler developed a deep relationship with this backpack. He carried it on his back literally every second of every day. Seriously. No..., really. He would wear it while sitting on the couch watching cartoons. He would wear it while riding his bike. He would pack it every single day with various items he believed he needed for the day.
Every night I would empty out the backpack and put the items away in different random places...some of them hoping to be lost and/or forgotten about so Kyler wouldn't put them back in (like vacuum attatchments that I actually needed, crumpled up papers that were in the recycling bin, etc.) I have actually had people tell me that they did not recognize Kyler several times because he did not have his backpack on...so everyone knew Kyler for his backpack. The last week of school I had to sew the bottom closed because it had ripped open in several places.

Now, we had a deal that Kyler had to empty the backpack before school and he was really good about doing it. But there were a few times that he would go to a friends house to play and go straight from there to the bus stop and I did not make him empty his backpack before going like I should have...On one of those occasions Kyler's teacher pulled me aside to inform me that she had to look in Kyler's backpack for a paper that he was supposed to turn in. She told me that technically Kyler should have been in big trouble because he technically had WEAPONS on hand...even though they were plastic (an axe, a hammer), they were still considered weapons. But she knew Kyler wouldn't hurt anyone, but he could not bring them back to school! ;)

The backpack holds so many memories...

There was one time we were in an elevator and Kyler looked up at me and said "Mom, if we get stuck in this elevator, I have everything we need to live on for a while until someone helps us." It was the sweetest, cutest thing ever...and the funniest part about it was that there was NOTHING in the backpack that we actually could have used for anything!

So now we have offically thrown the backpack away. There is a new backpack in Kyler's life for 1st grade. It is already filled with items Kyler thinks he needs for the day. He is not nearly as attatched to the backpack as he was a few months ago...I think taking the summer off (since his backpack was so broken he couldn't use it anymore) helped him grow out of the phase a little. But I could be wrong, this could be the new beginning again with a new backpack. Either way, it has been such a fun phase for me to see Kyler's personality show through the backpack.