future

My daughter will be going into preschool this fall. In my neck of the woods, they can be in it when they’re three. Sweet. So I registered her for the three-day a week program through our school district (It’s way less than a daycare with a preschool program, or a church’s preschool program, and it’ll be kids she’ll be going to school with in the future as well, so for me, it’s beneficial.) My little girly girl – who picked out a pink paisley and cammo skirt, her pink cowboy boots, and her cammo tank top with pink stars (she looooooves pink. Maybe a little too much.) went to Walmart with me today to pick out a backpack – because I know she’s going to need one. She pointed to the Barbie bag.

Me: Do you want that one?

Her: *shakes her head no*

Me: *points to the Minnie Mouse bag next to it* What about this one?

Her: Nope.

Me: What about the Doc McStuffins one?

Her: No, Mommy. I don’t want dat one.

Me: Which one do you want?

Her: *points further down the line of bags to the boys’ backpacks* Go dat way, Mommy.

Me: You want one of these? *totally not surprised at all, in all honesty*

Her: Mommy, I want dis one. *reaches out of cart for a backpack and grabs it.*

This is my daughter with her new backpack:

(Originally written 1/28/2015)

It’s gone. All gone. And… there are tears. Before you begin to worry about my mental stability, it’s just a Mama Moment. You see, tomorrow marks a new beginning in my son’s life. Tomorrow, we take him to the elementary school and register him for Kindergarten. So…

Yes. There are tears of joy. Because starting the day after Labor Day this year, my little boy is gone. All. Day. Long. No more day-long fights with his little sister, no more bickering over what he wants to eat for lunch, no more screaming and yelling on a continuous loop. No more MythBusters on repeat.

There are also tears of pride. Soon, he won’t be a little boy anymore. He’ll be a “big” boy, even though he’s pretty under-average for a five-year-old. He’ll be off to school to learn new things, do new things, meet new people, and make new friends. Because my little boy is growing up – wait… did I just say he’s growing up?

Oh dear. There they are. Tears not of sadness, but yes, sadness. I’ll be hanging out at home, with my little girl, playing games, reading, goofing off, and cuddling all day. I’ll be eating lunch with her. I’ll watch a movie with her. I’ll read her stories. I’ll fight with her over what we’re having for lunch (please, God, no more mac & cheese!)

The quiet will overwhelm me. My daughter, on her own, is relatively quiet. My son on his own, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. So while it may finally be quiet in my house for the day, my son will not be in the picture. He, who is already quite independent, will want to be spending time with his friends instead of Mama. He will have homework to do (really, people? Homework in Kindergarten?) He will want to be left alone. More than he already does.

I know there are wonderfully fantastic things that will come out of this – like everything I’ve already listed, even those listed as negatives – but at the moment, I’m too busy mourning those things, and want to wallow in the loss of the “little” in my little boy.

Preschool…

Just When You Think You’ve Got Everything Under Control…