SCHOOL DAYS

How does time fly so fast? Just yesterday my baby was crawling and making goo-goo gaa-gaa sounds and now he starts kindergarten on Monday. What happened? Did I go through a time machine into the future? Why does this always seem to happen? I try to cherish each moment with the thought that time goes by so quickly, yet I always seem to be struck with utter awe when it passes by in a blink of an eye.

I'm freaking out, wondering if I instilled all the right things and taught my child enough to prepare him for this big day. Worrying all the normal worries: Will he succeed? Will he make new friends? Will he be bullied? Will he be confident? And all during these moments of my uncertainty my little one cannot wait for his big day. He is so excited for this new chapter in his life. His biggest excitement is that he will be able to eat in the cafeteria. Am I making a big deal out of nothing? He has no worries or fears but total glee.

I guess as parents knowing that our child will go through the same things we did, makes us worrisome. School has gotten harder and they are exposed to more than we ever were, bad and good. We had hard days and so will they, but hopefully our babies (I mean big kiddos) will know that they can come to us for anything and we love them unconditionally and will help them anyway we can. And more importantly that God loves them unconditionally and will provide them with all the insight and love they could possibly imagine.

I'm so sad that this is it for our kids to do whatever they want during the day with us; the middle of the day strolls to the park, library, movies, playdates. That now they will be going to school everyday for at least the next 12 years and then they will be working everyday after that. That's it, the childhood as they know it is over, and hence starts a new but different one.

I know I have to be strong on his first day and try not to cry, but I'm afraid I will break down like a blubbering baby. I have been in denial this week and trying to control my emotions, whereas my sis-in-law has been crying every minute of the day. I will probably explode on the first day with emotions since it has been bottled up and sis will be prepared. Maybe I should be more like a duck. It is so nice to have family/friends with the same age kiddos to know what you are going through and share support and advice. We are truly blessed.