And They're Off...

 

...to school that is. All of them. And the house is quiet. Too quiet. For about 3 hours, until I go get to pick up Tate. The tears came easily when I had to drop him off the first day. From me, of course, not from him.

 

Thankfully, the kids were healthy all Summer. Two days before school began, Drue started running a fever. Her first day outfit hung neatly in the closet for another day. My friend came to pick Reese up the first day so I didn't have to drag Drue out of bed and into the school. I was so sad watching them pull out of the driveway, knowing I wouldn't be able to walk Reese to her 1st day of 3rd grade. Reese assured me by saying, "Don't worry Mom, we can pretend like tomorrow is my first day and you can walk me to class then."

 

Drue's temp stayed down so I did get to send her the very next day. But I didn't get to walk the girls to class. We all filed into the front lobby of the school and the principal said that 1st & 3rd graders could go on into the library. Drue looked up at me pleadingly, wanting to go, so that was that. I tucked her $20 bill into her side backpack pocket for lunch. I never thought something as trivial as lunch money would set me off. But my voice broke as I said, "Don't forget to give that to your teacher." *sniffle*sniffle.

And off she went. Reese was torn because she, too, wanted to go to the library but knew I'd be sad that I didn't get to walk her to class. Then I looked at Tate in his oversized backpack and more tears fell. I gave Reese a hug and kiss and she reluctantly started down the hall. She abruptly turned around and came back to give me one more hug. The principal looked at her sweetly and said, "Is she ok?". I just nodded, not wanting to go on to explain that she was fine, her Mother was not.

Tate marched down the hall with confidence but as we got closer to his classroom he slowed down and grabbed my hand. Then we went through the door. The last time I'll ever go through that door for my first day Kindergartner. I remembered back to Reese's first day there, and how I couldn't get over how tiny she was to be walking the halls of this school.

I was still lamenting the fact that time is passing by so quickly when I read one of my friend's facebook statuses. Her baby girl is heading to college this year and it simply said, "Seeing all the boxes of her stuff is starting to bother me". While I'm sad for her, that's exactly what I needed to read. I am so thankful to be in this stage of life. Yes, I'm sad there are no little ones at home with me all day, but I am so thankful I get to pick Tate up at lunch and that the girls are still young enough to want to snuggle on the couch and tell me about their days when they get home. I'm grateful for my calendar full of soccer practices, gymnastics, and brownie meetings. And I most certainly do not even want to think about the day we will pack up their stuff to send them off to college.