My youngest and oldest walk to the front door for the first day of school. My youngest missed her sister big time.
Last year at this time, my oldest daughter was headed to Kindergarten. It was a scary thing. Here she was, an innocent, shy, caring girl that was going to be throw in the wolf den that is the public school system. I only call it the wolf den because it’s the unknown. You’re dealing with kids from all types of backgrounds, demeanors, education level, mannerisms, etc. Public schools are one big ass bowl of jambalaya.
My wife and I went through all the emotions of being a first time “big school” parent (pre-school was a sort of a cake-walk compared to a school where she was on the bottom of the food chain — her school is k-8).
This year, the transition from Kindergarten to First Grade was a piece of cake. My daughter has a good chunk of her friends from last year in her class this year. Additionally, some friends that aren’t in her class, are in classes right next door. So basically, she’s with her crew and my wife and I will see the same moms and dads as we did last year. There’s a weird comfort in that, which I think has something to do with stability and familiarity.
I realize that with each opening of school, it’ll get easier and harder at the same time. Easier in the fact that we’ve been there before, done that. Harder in the fact that she’s getting older and she will no longer be the little girl we brought home from the hospital as young parents.
They say that it’ll be easier with our second daughter, but something tells me it’ll be harder. She’s our baby and we, of course, would like to keep her that way. But, time keeps rolling and there’s nothing we can do about it but hold on to the hand rail and enjoy the ride.
How did your first day of school go with your kids?
Don Martelli is just a dad, moonlighting as a PR exec, photographer and civilian journalist. He’s the executive editor for Technorati, a co-founder of Every Other Thursday and is a contributing writer for Shamable and the PR Finish Line. Connect with him at www.donmartelli.com or @bigguyd via Twitter.
I don’t know if it gets easier…we have three in school now, one still at home. The oldest heads off to middle school this year. I figure I’ll cry when the bus leaves just like I did seven years ago. It’s also the first time all my babies aren’t in the same place.
I love watching them grow and experience new things…but I really wish I could slow time down!
No kidding Amy. It’s an exciting and sad time of year. This is the stuff our parents yapped about when we were younger but never really “got” it, until now.