His First Day
Dear Aidan,
Dude. We did it. You started Kindergarten today–a day you’re more than ready for. The sunrise was a glowing sphere the color of tangerine and you had eaten every bite of the pancakes with a chocolate chip smiley face I prepared for you.
You were wearing khaki shorts, a navy blue and green striped polo and your orange tennis shoes. Wait, yes! I said khaki shorts! You have flat-out refused to wear khakis or jeans the entire year. The outfit item of choice is cozies. Yet yesterday, when I told you what school clothes are supposed to be like, you came around. You always do this you know. You always take your sweet time getting there, but pull through when it counts.
I didn’t think I would cry. I don’t know why I thought my sensitive self would be fine, but I did. Perhaps because you’ve been going to daycare a couple of days a week since you were three, perhaps because we’re pals and we’ve always hugged, kissed, high-fived and rocked anything we need to together.
I was wrong.
When I was loading the dishwasher and you turned around, first day of school outfit on and the lizard backpack you chose snug to your back–I just couldn’t help it. Warm tears pooled in my eyes and a less than attractive cry-smile beamed on my face.
So we begin. You going to school and growing up, me learning how to let go a little at a time. That’s my job. To prepare you the best I can, to help mold you into a unique, responsible person ready for life and to let you experience it. There are so many lessons you will learn. I can hear myself now, at your high school graduation, “Goodness, it feels like he started Kindergarten just yesterday!”
Today is that day, and I could not possibly be more proud to be your mama. We’ve done our best so far, and I know you will listen to your teacher, I know you will be kind to the other students. I’m not entirely sure you won’t pull the classroom frog out of its tank to play with it, but I’m hoping on this one.
I will remember this day and the way you looked, always.
Love,
Mom
21 comments August 30, 2010
They Come In Threes
I woke up yesterday morning to a slightly frantic, “Mom, I think I’m going to get sick.” Thank goodness he gave the warning, because we needed every moment of those six seconds for me to hightail it to the bathroom with him.
Later that afternoon, as he was resting with grandma, I went to the dentist to have the crown I lost last weekend re-cemented. Except for they couldn’t because of the angle at which it broke, and it will cost several thousand dollars to get a tooth back there. Luckily it’s a tooth not visible when I smile, but certainly a chomper worth having for eating. But still! It’s like–European vacation or ONE. TOOTH? Excellent.
To top it off, I woke up with a rip-roaring case of strep throat this morning. I haven’t had strep since I was six years old and woke up Christmas morning, crying that it felt like I was swallowing my tongue.
It’s been 48 hours of: Really? Right now? This too?
But, as always, we can’t control the cards we are dealt. We control the way we play them and our attitude in the meantime. So I choose to be thankful for a child who bounced back amazingly fast, for a boyfriend who tended to everything when I could barely swallow and sunny days. And popsicles and smoothies, which are sustaining my existence at the moment. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is to not freak out when multiple issues crop up at the same time, and to remember it will eventually be something I fondly look back on at having overcome and maybe even laugh at. I’m also crossing my fingers that the whole “bad things come in threes” thing is true and I’ve paid my dues for a while.
Happy weekend to every person who stops by my little slice of Internet.
8 comments August 27, 2010
Camping. With Four Children.
The day started off with someone in my family losing a tooth. That someone was not my five-year-old.
It was me.
I lost a crown while eating breakfast, which was a telling start to a day that involved driving an hour and a half to a campsite with four children. In the rain. Thankfully the rain ceased before our arrival. Had it not, the incessant chatter and bursts of squabbling kiddos might have pushed me over the edge by the time we pulled in. Don’t get me wrong–the park was beautiful and hearing the oohs and aahs of the children (Aidan and three of his cousins) as they viewed the rolling hills and expansive forest made the entire trip worthwhile. But the endless bathroom trips, the corralling of children while setting up the tent, the barking not to get too close to the fire? It could truly drive a person crazy!
I salute each and every parent out there with multiple children. The ones who work outside the home during the day to provide and have to rush around to keep schedules on course and the ones who are able to stay at home and work hard to keep their sanity. Life is just pure chaos with four children and I am very, very impressed with those who do it on a daily basis.
8 comments August 23, 2010
