As the Nelson girls were designing cards Tuesday night to give to their teachers on the first day of school at the kitchen table, their mother, Jessica, wrote the names of her three daughters, herself and her husband, Kevin, down a column on a dry-erase board that displayed their weekly schedule.
When she was finished with her card, 6-year-old Sophia stood on her toes to reach her row at the board, where she wrote "1st day of school" in the Wednesday column.
It was the night before the first day of school, when she would become a first grader at Hillcrest Elementary School in Catonsville.
She's excited to return to school to see friends and meet some more. She's eager to be able to play on the school's bigger playground. And she's not scared.
Some of her potential worries — and her mother's — were eased when she met her teacher, Bridget Quinn, who wore a Dr. Seuss hat as she introduced herself and showed her where her locker was, how to get to her classroom and where she'd sit.
Sophia is one of 117 first graders expected on the first day of school at Hillcrest, according to principal Doug Elmendorf.
It has been an on-and-off tradition to make the cards each year, Jessica Nelson said. The cards Sophia and her two sisters — 9-year-old Abigail who is starting in fifth grade at Hillcrest and 11-year-old Madelyn, who is starting sixth grade at Resurrection-St. Paul School in Ellicott City — made this year read, "you're all that and a bag of chips," and included a bag of Utz potato chips, a memento from a family trip to the Utz snack-food factory in Hanover, Pa., over the summer.
"It's something more than just the apple," Jessica said.
At Hillcrest, kindergartners have a gradual entry into the school, to ease the transition, Elmendorf said. The first day all students will be in school all day is Wednesday, Aug. 31.
But Sophia's parents aren't worried about their youngest daughter surviving the first day of school. They encourage her to be a nice friend and kind to others, particularly the girl who will be sitting next to her, who is new to the school.
Penelope Martin-Knox, a Baltimore County Public Schools community superintendent, said the first day of school can provide challenges for students.
"You're really taking a kid from what they're familiar with to a new environment and that naturally brings anxieties for students," she said.
She suggests for students — and parents — who may have fears to talk to school teachers, administrators or counselors. She encourages parents to attend back-to-school nights and establish a routine of communicating with teachers. Parents have access to an academic online hub where they can view assignments and monitor grades, she said.
"There's always an adult around to have that conversation and provide you with that support," she said.
After dinner, Sophia helped her parents make her lunch — a build-your-own pizza kit, strawberries, cucumber slices and a brownie — and made sure she was able to put on a smock in which she had to tie a knot. She picked out a blue-and-white striped dress that she'd wear the next morning.
But by 8 p.m. it was time for bed.
As Sophia's parents were reading her books and putting her to bed, the soon-to-be first grader started listing what she'd have to do once she woke up at 7:15 a.m. She'll get dressed, get her lunch from the refrigerator and put her backpack on, she said, as she and Abigail prepare for the 8:30 a.m. school bus arrival.
The new routine is a sign that a new adventure is about to begin.
"No more lounging around," Jessica said to her daughter. "Summer's over."