Not nearly as perfect of a moment, but just as precious
Everybody is settling nicely into the routine of school. There have been a few adjustments here and there, but for the most part it has been a smooth transition from the summer days to the back to school routine. The biggest adjustment has been for Finn who started Kindergarten. I remember when I sent my first child to kindergarten. I choked up as she walked into the classroom with a backpack on as big as she was. I made a special first day of school breakfast of eggs of homemade biscuits in the shape of a heart, perfectly cooked bacon and fruit. Her freshly washed face beamed as she walked in wearing her beautiful smocked dress which was carefully chosen weeks before the first day. Her sandals had been bought for her by her great-grandmother and kept on top of the closet so they wouldn’t have the slightest smudge on them when she met her teacher and classmates. Her hair was pulled up with a bow the size of Texas holding it back. I snapped a million pictures as she walked into the school that day. I was thirty minutes early to pick her up, wanting to be sure she saw me the moment school got out. I knelt down and asked her all about her day, hanging on every sweet word. Later that night she was so exhausted from the day, that as I tucked her in bed she said, “Mommy, I don’t want to go back tomorrow, I want to stay home with you”. I snuggled her and told her it would be a great year, my heart melting that my baby wanted to stay with me.
Fast forward 10 years and six kids later, and I realize how much I have changed!
After the fiasco a few weeks ago of picking out a backpack for Finn, I had reservations of whether or not he would even take it to school on the first day. As a veteran kindergarten mom I know that most days the backpack comes home empty or filled with sand and a few rollie pollies found at car pick-up so I was not going to stress about it. Throughout the summer I bought Finn a few new outfits I found on sale to wear when school started. I washed them so they would be fresh the first time he wore it, with the best intentions to perhaps dust off the iron and make creases in his shorts and little shirt. The reality is I got a little behind on the laundry (darn folding fairy didn’t show up) and I found myself sorting threw a hamper of clean clothes for that perfect, new first day of school outfit. I grab it out of the basket, sprayed a little “wrinkle-free” spray on it, tugged a little and threw it on him. With three different schools and three different start times, my once big first day of school breakfast has been replaced by bagels and bacon in the microwave. But of course this is the morning the microwave decides to quit and there was no time to fry it up in a pan. In the rush to get everyone out of the door and into the car, I forgot that when you are five years old you have to lick the cream cheese off the bagel before you can eat it. As any mom has done before and our moms did to us, I licked my finger to get it off. Little bits of his hair stick up so I end up licking my entire hand to try and get it to stay down. His sneakers are far from brand spanking new, they have the worn look of a little boy that never slows down.
The first day of school pictures consisted of what I could take with my phone.
As my little baby headed into his first day of school, I could not help but smile and think how I am a little more relaxed than I was 10 years ago..
I anxiously stood outside the school a few minutes before it ended. I found myself holding my breath and hoping that they would quickly come out so I could get to the other kids school a few minutes before there final bell rang. And now instead of one wanting to tell me about his or her day, there are six vying for my attention.
Later that night as I tucked Finn in bed, I snuggled with him. As he fell asleep I heard the same words I had heard when my first child went to school,“Mommy, I don’t want to go back tomorrow, I want to stay home with you”. And once again, just like it did 10 years ago, my heart melted. No matter how crazy and stressful all of the juggling is for us as parents, what a wonderful feeling it is to know that are babies would rather be in our arms than anywhere else!
