Ahhhh, the first day back to school.

I always loved it. Shiny new shoes, the anticipation of where my desk would be, who my teacher would be, reuniting with friends, the cool new brown bag snack ...

Maybe I was one of the odd balls, but I always loved returning to school. I even get sad now that I'm a "grown up" and I can't prepare for another year of education.

Whether it was when I was younger and picking out Trapper Keepers or when I was older and I was packing the car up with Ramen to head back to college — I miss it all. 

(I'll admit, I still go out and buy myself a new sparkly folder, even though I don't have anything to put in it in this electronic age.) 

Whether kids love or hate going back to school, I think it's a whole different concept for parents that I probably won't get until I have my own little ones.

I looked through some old pictures with my mom the other day and came across a pile of back to school photos. 

Mom would make my brother and I stand outside of our house in front of the flag in our pressed uniforms, shiny new saddle shoes, new book bag and hold up a finger for what grade we were entering. (It got a little awkward when I was old enough to drive myself to school and ran out of fingers to hold up ... )

It was tradition though and no matter how silly we felt taking the photo, I could tell my mom was very happy to have those pictures — and so was I. 

Have photos you'd like to share for a back to school album on Stow Patch? Add them to this post. 

Check out pictures from last year's gallery. So many parents added photos! 

From everyone at Patch, have a wonderful start to the school year and enjoy making the memories. 

I'm off to find my sparkly folder ... 

Click here for all the 2012-13 back-to-school information you need.