Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Lots of sniffling going on here, it's the first day of school...

*emotional*

It's just one of those things in life that there are certain events that ALWAYS seem off in the distance. Certain milestone ages. Your parents passing away. Retirement. For me, so far in my life, today was one of those milestones: my baby is starting Kindergarten. And she and Henry are finally at the same school, which given their 5 year age gap, always seemed like it may never come. And now it is here.

*tears!*

It seems like a poignant day, to be sure. There's a larger life lesson going on in the midst of the actual First Day of School melee. And that is that time marches on, regardless of what else is going on in your life, and regardless of how it just seems like yesterday that I myself was the ages of my children.

I remember very clearly, my dad talking to me the night before I started Kindergarten. And at that time, I had not been in daycare or Pre-K prior to that, so this was my very first school experience. I was nervous about starting school, as I was a shy kid, and my dad was teasing me that he would try to "blend in" with the other kids so that he could go with me:

"But you're so much taller than all of them!"

"I'll kneel down like this, and walk around on my knees, so that they'll think I'm only this tall!"

I'm getting a little emotional typing that all out, and if you're one of my sisters, you're probably getting emotional reading it! At that moment, I would have been 5. My dad, doing a little quick public math, would have been 30. That's a decade younger than I am right now. But when you're a kid, everyone just generally seems OLDER than you. And now, everyone mostly still seems older than me, or generally the same age as me. :0 But in point of fact, of course, the percentage of people younger than you is always increasing. It's a humbling, humbling reality. My dad seems so much the same to me now as he always has. But at that time, he was YOUNG!

I've been thinking about that off and on throughout my morning today, as I was teaching. It's an emotional day, and it's setting off a time of major change. The mornings will now consist of a lot of rushy rushiness, prompting children to get dressed, to brush their teeth, and remembering to pack lunches, snacks and needed paperwork.

I'm trying to hold on, but I tell you, I'm on the brink of bursting into snotty tears right in the middle of a class coming up here. For posterity's sake, here is the picture from last year, when Henry was going into 5th grade, and Anne was starting Pre-K:

Anne didn't look too happy...
And just this morning, Henry is starting in the middle school wing, and Anne starting Kindergarten. Thankfully, they are both now enrolled in the same Catholic school:

Much happier faces this year.

Sniffling. So much sniffling over here. How is your post-Labor Day week/first day of school starting out, dear reader?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for commenting! I read and appreciate every single one, and I will respond to each one personally!