enough about me

With all the navel-gazing, tear-wiping, and generalized transitioning I've been focused on for the last week as I returned to work, there's another significant milestone that's being marked now, for I'm not the only one heading to school.

Pudge and Red next to a digitally twirled sign in front of their school.

Today will go down in family history as Pudge's first day of preschool and Red's first day of kindergarten! The tradition of the first and last day of school pictures has begun for child two and three, as it has been in play for child one since August 2003. JAM leaned against this sign six times for his photos, and now Red and Pudge get to star in their very own pics, too.

While I have the immensely great fortune to be able to see my children at times throughout their school day, I still am riding the emotional roller coaster that every parent boards when she puts that backpack on her child's seemingly tiny frame. They're leaving the sanctity (ha!) of the nest that is the home environment, and they're now off into the great big world to start living at least a part of their lives separate from us. From me.

The stay-at-home mom that I've been for four years is weeping inside. My babies. The early childhood educator in me that I'm now re-embracing couldn't be more pleased for the world that they are entering. The joys that await them in friendship, exploration, self-discovery, and learning are boundless, and I know in my heart that they will absolutely thrive in this environment.

But, as every mom who has watched her child board the school bus, or walked her child to the school, or even escorted her child into the kindergarten classroom knows-- this day is never easy, no matter how comfortable we are with the school. The first day of school is big time. And when it's upon you, there's no denying its emotional power.


Keeping the Kleenex close by,