27 January 2008

The Count-Down Begins

The first thing I did this morning after 8:00 Mass was head for the parish hall. Normally, we go for the coffee and doughnuts but today I signed my daughter up for kindergarten. This was the first opportunity to apply for admission and I knew to be there early. I knew this day was coming - I've been ready for it (got copies of her baptismal and birth certificates), anticipating its arrival.

Still, it knocked me for a loop.

When we did this the first time two years ago, I was excited and eager for my son to head off to grade school. He was ready and champing at the bit. This time around, I felt just as excited for Flynn but I also felt a bit of sadness. My little girl, my baby is growing up and away. Maybe I'm just amazed that this day arrived so quickly. She's not even 5 yet and it's January and I'm not ready to think about the next school year yet.

My friend, Mrs. Chicken, wrote about savoring a bit of inertia, about wanting to grab hold of moments in her daughter's life and keep them forever. I know that feeling oh, so well with both of my children. There are moments every day with my two lovelies that I want burned forever into my consciousness. It's those moments that one or both of my kids takes my breath away with their simple beauty or they afford me glimpses into their future - a brief look at the young adults they are growing into.

As I handed in our application to the school's principal she asked, "This is for the youngest isn't it?" I said, "Yep." "So, what are you going to do now?" she asked.

All I could do was shrug my shoulders, shake my head, walk back to my family who were struggling into their jackets, and head out the door to our day.

3 comments:

Leighann of Multi-Minding Mom said...

What *are* you going to do? Return to work? Find an exciting new career or return to your old one? Continue on as board prez (even though your kids won't be there)? Take up a new hobby?

It's almost like you are retiring.

Anonymous said...

I savor moments like those now, with my kids 15 and 9, as I did when they were smaller and I homeschooled them and we were together all the time. I'm really grateful to have had so much time with them - great memories, and looking at them now reminds me of how small they once were.

Now I'm calculating just how many family vacations we have left together before C graduates high school, stuff like that. I'm determined to just enjoy the next 2.5 years, even though they involve a driver's license.

Amy said...

The idea that the poo was only two years away from kindergarten may be what finally inspired me to take the plunge with no. 2. I just wasn't ready to give it up, this full-time mom gig.

I wonder often what I will do when they are in school.

this was touching.