Thoughts from a Mother's Heart

I was reminded today how difficult the first day of school can be for a child's mother. The commencement of full day, kindergarden classes can bring a sudden reminder that your little boy (or girl) is growing up fast. It's one of the first, big milestones in a sequence of events leading to adulthood; an occasion that can elicit an emotional response from a parent who up to that point has been with the child nearly 24/7. My sister-in-law, Mandy, expressed her thoughts as she watched her baby boy start classes yesterday:

"Brady’s first day of kindergarten was a little crazy. It was nothing like the first day of preschool…

In the morning before it was time to go to school, Brady wanted to ride his four-wheeler. I told him go ahead and in my mind I’m thinking “Get your last bit of riding time in before school starts, because now summer is officially over for us” (gloom and doom, gloom and doom)….I was so worried we were going to have a scene at school where Brady would be kicking and screaming and fighting to stay with me. Much to my surprise, the story turned out to be quite different…

Brady, my brave boy, took to school like a fish to water. We walked into the "morning gathering room" which is also the lunch room and Aiden and Adam (a boy who was on his T-ball team) were already there and Aiden yelled "BRADY!" when we walked in and Brady went running over and sat with them and never even said goodbye. He wasn't one bit scared or even worried that he might miss us. I had to walk over and say goodbye and get out of there quick before I lost it in front of all those kids!! I made it to the car and quickly wiped my eyes before I burst into tears and then I took a few deep breaths and I was fine. I had to just keep thinking, "he's having fun".

Holden, on the other hand, wasn’t too thrilled with the decision for Brady to start kindergarten. After we dropped Brady off at school (which, by the way, was starting to feel kind of like a kick in the stomach) Holden wanted to go to McDonald's. I said okay because I had to go to the grocery store anyway. So we went to McDonald's and Holden wanted to go inside and play. Well, I said we could because we didn’t have anything better to do and I needed to get some other things off of my mind… So, we ventured inside. Unfortunately, we had a problem….Holden doesn’t know how to play by himself. He just kind of stood there like a lost puppy. There were no other kids there, either. He said, “Mommy, you come up in the tunnel with me…” So, I’m sitting there inside this tunnel thinking “This is so sad, the poor boy misses his big brother” I almost had a breakdown in McDonald's.

Anyway, we made it through that, and Brady got off the bus at home around 4:00 (for some reason the bus was late...I was frantic!!!!) and he was so excited he could hardly stand it. He said his most favorite thing was the bus and recess. He also told me some kid slapped him in the face twice in the lunch room, and I'm thinking "That kid is lucky I don't know where he lives...." Brady said he told the nurse and the nurse made the kid sit on a chair. I don't know what that was all about, but I guess we'll have to wait and see if it happens again. Because, if it does....well, you never know....:)

So, overall, thel first day of kindergarten turned out to be not such a bad thing after all. Brady didn't miss me. He said he didn't even need to use the "special kiss" I had put in his hand for him to save in case he missed me. How lucky for him?!?!?!?! Doesn't he know I have just taken care of his every need for the past almost six years?!?!?!?! How dare he not miss me!!! Really, though, I'm so glad he had fun and didn't miss me. I don't know what I would have done if he had come home and said he hated it....So begins the 13-year journey from kindergarten to senior year...BRING IT ON!"