Hi friends,
Why is it that the weekends pass by so fast? It seems by the time we wake up Saturday morning, half the day has gone by already. I have so been enjoying not having to get the kids up early for school in the mornings this summer, it’s hard to believe there are only a few more weeks left until it all starts again!
Even harder to grasp is that our little mrs. Drama Queen will be going to Jr. High this year.. Aahhhh.. It seems like it was only a couple of years ago I was getting her ready for her first day of school. I remember that day well.
She was excited because she had just learned to tie her shoes by herself, so I waited patiently as she took her time ( around 10 whole minute PER SHOE) tying her shoes very carefully while chanting the little tune to help her remember which steps came next. I don’t remember exactly which one that was, over the years I have made up different ones for each child.
She was SO ready for school, she was a big girl and she would be able to ride the bus home in the afternoons. She had been talking about riding that bus for almost a year before it was time for her to start school, she just couldn’t wait until she could climb on it all by herself.
After she was completely dressed and hair brushed, she stood against the wall as I snapped pictures of her, she looked so small with that big ol’ book sack hanging from her little back. She had the biggest cheesiest grin in each and every picture. I’ll try to remember to post one tomorrow for you all.
I remember driving her up to the school, my heart was racing partly due to the fact that I had never had to trust strangers to take care of my baby girl before, and partly due to not knowing exactly how she would handle it all after we walked through that door. Would she cling to me? Would she cry? Would she realize that she had made a huge mistake and she really just wanted to spend her days at home with her mommie? NOPE, none of the above. You know what she did? When I put the car in park, and opened her door for her to jump out she looked at me and said “okay mommie, you can go home now”. She was almost upset that I had to walk her inside the school and sign her in for her first day! I still thought, ‘yeah, but she still hasn’t walked inside yet.’ Into the hustle and bustle of little children exploring and some of them I knew would be crying for their parents, I was sure that this all would just overwhelm her.
The moment of truth… I opened the door to the school, and we walked in. A teacher met us and directed the Drama Queen as to where to hang her book sack. I watched her to see if I could notice any sign of hesitation from her. Would she look back to make sure I was still there, that I wasn’t really going to be leaving her? Nope, nothing. She hung her book sack as if she had done that a hundred times before. The teacher showed me where to sign her in at, and at the same time showed her to her seat at the table where her name had already been tapped down. She sat and waited patiently as the teacher then handed her a game of lace trace. I stayed for a few more minutes watching her. She was no more interested in me as the man on the moon… I have to say I was a little bit disappointed, I mean, did she love me? I was her mother after all!
So the time came when I realized if I stayed any longer I would begin to look like an overbearing mother and I had to say goodbye. I know it was foolish of me, but I still kind of thought, ‘when I say that I am leaving, when I say bye, then she will panic and want me to stay’. NOPE I bent down and gave her a kiss which kind of annoyed her because I got in the way of her seeing which hole to next place the lace through. I then told her bye, and explained that I was leaving and would be waiting at the end of the driveway for her when she came home on the bus that afternoon at which she replied, “Bye!” mater-of-factly.
I drove home that day not sure if I wanted to cry or laugh. Now… now she is heading to Jr. High. The days of loving school have all but faded away. At least the love of learning, I so wish I could get that back for her. Now she does still love school, but she loves school for her friends… not exactly the right reasons, although I am glad she has such a large group of close friends.
Since that first day of school all those years ago, I have sent two more of my babies to school for their first day, each of them were completely different experiences from the one before. Next year I will be bringing my baby… our last little baby to school for her first day. I am not sure what could be harder, the day you bring your first baby to school or the day you bring your last baby to school for the first time. I guess I will soon know.
As always,
Happy Creating,
