You see this creature? She is my oldest babe. Big Girl. And today she starts Kindergarten.
She doesn’t just start Kindergarten, but she starts Dalton. My school. My school that is now hers, too. She will have the beloved teacher who taught my youngest sister almost twenty years ago. The same teacher who taught both of my nephews. What an absolutely wonderful, and meaningful, way to begin.
Oddly, I am not anxious. This could be because I am still steeped in a profound and padding denial. Or it could be that I know this school and I know what it did for me. I know what it will do for her, how it will accept her for who she is today and who she becomes tomorrow, how it will absorb her into its unique and incomparable ecosystem of love and learning. At Dalton, she will learn, she will love, she will live.
Big Girl doesn’t seem anxious either. Just excited. Just curious.
The truth is that there is probably some fear there, here. For her. For me. For all of us. But that is okay and appropriate because this is big, this step, this September day. And on this September day, I feel happy and overwhelmed and nostalgic. On this day, I feel fortunate and optimistic and alive.
More than anything though, on this day, I feel privileged. Not just to be a mom. But to be her mom. Not just to be sending my child to a good school, but to this school.
My school.
Her school.
Good luck today, my little Tiger.
Did you love your school(s)? Do you have any particular memories of sending your kids to Kindergarten, or even beginning it yourself? Any words of wisdom for this rookie mom of a Kindergartener?
Happy first day, Big Girl, and mama too … my children go to the same school I went to (though only for a few years, so I think the bond is shallower than yours with Dalton) and it’s wonderful, and sometimes disorienting, to walk them into the same halls where I ran as a 7 year old myself. Hope today is wonderful. Take lots of pictures! ox
A big day for her and her family. I hope it’s a wonderful day.
What a milestone! Good luck. We just sent my sister off to Italy to study abroad. She was calmer than her mom and big sister and we beamed with pride (and tears) as she boarded the plane and seemed to comfort us! I remember, as if it were yesterday, as we watched her climb the stairs to the yellow school bus for her first day of kindergarden. Ah, the passage of time.
It has to be a great feeling to know the place you are sending her to so well. I think it is a big day. I also thought my boys first day (today) was big but I was dismissed so quickly I was running in the park cracking up. Their big day no longer involves hand holding, kisses and support. I felt good about that too. Advice…I think sometimes we make days into such “big days” that it can be anxiety provoking. I also love the advice never ask “how was your day” because you never get good info from kids that way. Go tiger go!
Well, thanks, ADR. I made it all the way through G’s first morning at Dalton today without letting one tear slip past my lashes. Now I read this, and here I am sobbing in the window seat at Starbucks.
This is really sweet and so special she will go to the same school as you and your family has all gone to. So full of memories. I also think it’s really wonderful she’ll have the same teacher as your youngest sister and nephews– I love when teachers like that become shared memories of our lives.
Congratulations on a huge milestone at a wonderful school! She is going to be great because she is at a terrific place and you and your husband have prepared her well for this momentous day.
!
Our family experienced a similar milestone last week when our big girl started middle school at one of Dalton’s “rivals.” She went from knowing everyone at our neighborhood school, four blocks from home, to a 45 minute bus ride to a school where she knew almost no one on the first day. I was a mess, worrying about her finding her way. I pictured her sitting alone and being overwhelmed by everything. Instead, after less than a week, she thinks her classes are all “amazing and so interesting,” thinks the kids are “the nicest,” and in short, couldn’t be happier. I am sure your girl will have similar reports. Congratulations and savor your big girl’s day