The First Year of School

When I dropped my oldest daughter off at kindergarten in the fall of 2007, it was a happy moment in my life. I didn't shed a tear or panic that she had grown up too quickly. I was really happy for the experience she was going to get. She seemed ready to leave us behind at home. Things were getting a little dull for her around the house and she needed some new challenges, so I felt like I was leaving her in the place she needed to be. We were holding her back, she was desperate to learn.

The last day of kindergarten was another story. I was a mess. I had spent a good deal of time with her classmates volunteering weekly for the better part of the school year -This is why we need stay at home mom's! So I really felt that I was going to miss the students but I was really surprised over how attached I became to her teacher. Is this common for stay at home mom's? Seeking the adult interaction we all crave that we are willing to hang out with anyone over the age of 20, as long as they aren't an ax murderer? It was such a sad day for me, not only because I dropped my daughter off 9 months ago and she seemed so little, hardly old enough to ride a bus let alone walk through the halls and staircases of the school to find her way to the bathroom the next floor above. But really it was the same shock I had all over again when she turned three, I turned around from a world of working full time and suddenly had a three year old that I hadn't spent as much time with as I had wanted. This school year flew by so quickly and I missed my oldest growing significantly all over again.

I'm looking forward to the slow summer ahead where I can get to know her again and spend some time reconnecting. It will be fun going on nature hikes with her on the hot summer mornings since she is my most motivated hiker, next to the dogs of course. During nap time for the younger two she won't spend the whole time in quiet time (although she can happily spend hours in her room alone without a complaint) I have many plans to spend the time playing games and reading books together and giving her attention that she missed out on this past year being a big kindergartner. But something tells me even after our summer together, she is still going to grow so fast that I can't mentally keep up. I guess this might be why so many of her classmates had new siblings this year -a new baby makes it a little easier to swallow the reality that they just grow faster than any parent could want.