Kindergarten Eve

Batman starts kindergarten tomorrow. Batman's Mom is having a hard time getting used to the idea of her little super hero being gone ALL. DAY. LONG.

First of all, he's my baby. I can remember the day he really searched my eyes for the first time. He was about a week old. Maybe 2-3 weeks old. I was sitting on the edge of our bed holding him with my hand supporting his head and I was just talking to him. And as he scanned my face he stopped, in recognition, and searched my eyes. It was if his eyes were saying, Mama? And I said to him, "Hey there! I'm your Mama. I'm gonna take care of you and I love you so much." A lot of things over the last five years have been a blur, but I remember that moment. The moment he saw me and knew it was me. My baby.

And here we are five years later and he's going to be away from his Mama all day. I think it's the all day thing that is the hardest for me. I'm just gonna miss the little guy so much. I feel like I'm never going to see him again. It's a very conflicting feeling because as a SAHM, I often just want to be away from the children for a little while. Maybe even all day. But all day everyday? That's a big leap for us.  
Who is going to be there to help him clarify things when he's misunderstood? Or to encourage him when he can't get the words out? And who is going to help him maintain his innocence and sweetness in the real world?  He really is a sweet boy. And he's reaching an age where sweetness and tenderheartedness is starting to edge out the innate selfishness we display as human beings. Will that all be lost at school?
 
I'm a helicopter mom. I know it. I own it. I hover.
But I also know he needs to go.
He needs to figure it out on his own and be given the opportunity to do so.
As hard as it's going to be, I know he needs time away from me.

And he's ready, too.
He woke up this morning wanting to know if it was Tuesday yet because he's ready to start.
He's going to love it and thrive, I'm sure.

So tomorrow, I will take him to school and WALK HIM TO HIS ROOM.  There will be no drop off line for this Mama on the FIRST DAY, thank you very much.  I will try really hard not to cry. I don't want to upset him. And then I will drive back to post and pick up our beautiful butterfly (see her photo below) from hourly care.
We will spend the day together. I will look for Boo subconsciously and swear that I hear him calling me from upstairs throughout the day. And then, we will drive to school to pick him up. He will be all smiles and I will still try not to cry. He'll tell us all about his first day on the way home. Minute by minute, I'm sure.  ;)

And when he gets home, I will serve him some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Probably for the last time this year. Let's be real. And that will be that. We'll be off and running with no looking back. It will be a great year for him and I will adjust. I always do. I can hear PawPaw now recounting the times of transition in my life..."You cried when you went from Elementary School to Middle School, and from Middle to High School, and again when we dropped you off at Clemson.  And he'll go on to say, you just have to do this. The crying part. This is how you do it, and then you'll be fine. You always are. It's just your way." And he's right. We'll I'll be fine. 

And as much as I'm sad about Boo going off to school, I'm excited to have some special time with this little lady. I know we had time while Boo was in preschool,  but that time was usually been spent grocery shopping and running other errands. Now we'll have time to do more quality things together.  She's a fun gal!


His last hurrah before school was a day at the AK State Fair. There was a break in the weather (August is our rainy month for sure), so we had to take advantage of the sunshine yesterday. B-man had 24 hour duty and wasn't able to join us. He was definitely missed. That said, I'm happy to report that we had a great time. All three of us. They're getting older, which makes it more fun and less work for me, which is quite nice. I even got my face painted with them, which they thought was so funny. :)

We took a lunch break and stopped to eat under a tent, in the shade. The music from the "big kid" rides was so loud and these guys couldn't help but dance and bop around. Enjoy this little clip...

Happy Kindergarten Eve!
We're off to the grocery store because I will have to start packing lunches!