There are a lot of first day stressors but the one I can still remember was way back in grade school.

I was in grade 4 at a little school that only had 4 grades in it. I guess you could say I was a senior. It later was turned into a small apartment building.

We had just finished summer vacation and it was September 2nd.

My mother was convinced that this was the first day of school and got me ready to go in the morning.

I was in doubt that this was the day but I believed my mother when she said it was time to go back to school.

After all, you would think an adult would be able to send you to school on the right day.

I remember thinking that it was very quiet and not a lot of other kids were out on the sidewalks coming to school that day.

Then I thought maybe I was late and the clock at home somehow was not telling the correct time. So I ran as fast as I could just in case I could still make it before the bell rang.

I did not realize at the time but even after all these years I still feel those feelings of anxiety.

Anxiety is such a powerful feeling that it can stay with you for years and be triggered by innocent events in your future.

Every time I go on that street I think of what happened that day and how lonely and embarrassed I felt .

I was embarrassed for my mom too.

How could I go home and tell her she made a mistake?

It was either do that or wander around until it was time to go home for the day.

There were teachers at the school who wanted to know what I was doing there.

This was another anxious moment. Do I tell them my mother sent me or I was just coming by the school for a look?

Everyone thinks children do not have anxious moments but I can assure you this is not the case.

I am 52 now and as I said, I am still able to recall the details.

Yes it was the wrong day to go to school but along with being anxious I learned that even grownups make mistakes.

It was not the end of the world but to a child this sort of thing could be confusing for sure.

I came to feel less embarrassed about this later in life and now tell the story as it helps to put it all into perspective for me.

I hope to help others when I tell stories such as this one.

I know people who are actually scarred by these supposed simple mistakes.

It helps to know that everyone has had an embarrassing story or event in their lives.

I have not met one person who says they got through childhood without one to put in the memory vault.

If we can forgive the event and move on with our life it makes us more able to deal with any possible future embarrassments.

It is all part of our life story and I know my mother did not send me to school on the wrong day on purpose or to embarrass me.

It was an honest mistake and from then on I always made sure I got the date and wrote it down for the coming September.

I think of this time in my life as the beginning of my journaling habit.