Tag Archives: elementary school

mommyhood

First Day Feels.

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The main thing I need to say is this: Man, we got here fast.

My second little minion started kindergarten today. He was quiet and reserved at drop-off, but didn’t cling to me or shed any tears. My second grader, true to form, flounced off into her class with a quick hug and kiss from me, and nary a backward glance. What a darling, she is, to not need a single thing from me anymore… right?

Parents often talk about how time flies, and you shouldn’t blink, and you’ll miss whatever that frustrating thing is. And truth be told, I have a four-year-old who still sometimes poops his pants and NO, KAREN, I WILL NOT MISS THAT. But I really do get it.

So when today at pick-up, I had been anxiously awaiting the news from my 5 and 7 year olds, thinking that like normal they’d be bursting with news and stories and “Oh, Mom, this was hilarious!” and my daughter was full of that. But my son seemed shell-shocked, saying he had been at school for, like, an hour (the longest imaginable time), and had gotten lost and separated from his class at dismissal, and dissolved into tears. I was in no way prepared for that. So I did what any unselfish and loving mother would do: cried right along with him, in front of all the other parents picking up their darling ones, including two of my friends (parents of my kids’ friends, too) who hugged and rubbed backs (his and mine) and checked in on us later. What would I have done if he was my oldest, that was our first day of kindergarten, and we didn’t know anyone?

So to all my mamas out there, the ones who had an amazing first day, and the ones who pried sad kiddos off their legs just to get out of the classroom this morning, be friends. Be friends with each other. Everyone needed a hug today, whether it be for congratulatory purposes (YES AND AMEN) or for the tears you are or aren’t willing to shed until your head hits your pillow tonight. I’ve got hugs to go around, and encouragement for either situation. Mamas, we are doing this together. Let’s share the love.

mommyhood

Kindergarten, Here She Comes

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Yesterday, I did something I’d been putting off. I finally registered EK for kindergarten. Originally, I put it off because we were still thinking about schools, but it quickly moved on to the fact that I was just a little down, thinking about how big she is, and how little time I’ll get with her once we start full-day school in the fall. I mean, she’s excited, she’s ready, and she’s not going to have a problem with that transition. It was my heart that wasn’t ready.

I’m not ready to let my baby be somewhere else for six hours a day. I’m not ready to let her loose into the world, when she might be very impressionable. I’m not ready to feel like I have to share the work of raising her with someone else. I’m not ready.

But she is ready.

She is ready to spread her wings a bit. She is ready to make new friends, learn new things, be pushed and stretched. She is ready have a new teacher, new rules, new environment, and new people surrounding her. She is ready to read, to add and subtract, to play new games and sing new songs.

I know there will be hard days. She will have kids at school who aren’t nice, or days she doesn’t feel like going to school at all. But that’s where I come in: the encourager, the snuggler, the preparation expert, the “you can do it!” chanter. Her home is a safe place, one that will prepare her for her day, and one that will envelop her in comfort upon her return. Her family loves her – even her brothers will help cheer her on.

So kindergarten, by the time you get here, we will be ready for you. I’m glad that day isn’t today, but in a couple of months, my heart will be prepared. Be good to my little girl, kindergarten. She’s excited for you.