Kindergarten, Babies, and Other Thoughts

Our daughter started Kindergarten last week and all of my worrying and fretting was for naught. She did wonderfully. Her teacher seems delightfully nice and competent, most of her classmates seem like good kids, the principal came across as hands-on and kind, and I left feeling like she was in the right place. It still hasn't alleviated all of the worrying. I miss her like crazy and at times really wish she were still home with me. However, she enjoys going and I would never want to do anything to give her a negative impression of school. There will be plenty of those feelings she develops on her own later. But still, she's FIVE. Should five year olds really be sent off to school? It just seems so young. However, her being in school has allowed me to view her from a new perspective. I have always been proud of her and known she was kind, caring, sympathetic, and bright. However, being able to see her the way others, who aren't incredibly biased, see her has been a blessing.

On the second day of school when I went to pick her up I had a mother come up and introduce herself to me and tell me how sweet she thought my daughter was and how much she appreciated what she had done on the first day. I had no idea what she was talking about. Apparently, this woman's daughter was crying while she was being dropped off and my daughter walked up to her, gave her a hug, took her hand and walked her into the classroom. They have become fast friends and this woman wanted to let me know how much she appreciated it. Hearing this about my daughter literally brought tears to my eyes.

Then this past Friday my daughter earned a toy out of the prize box. They get a stamp for everyday that they are on task all day and have no behavior issues. If they finish the week with five stamps they get to choose a prize. Our daughter finished with her five stamps and was allowed to choose a toy. Instead of choosing something she wanted she came home with a Star Wars toy for her brother because she said she wanted him "to be happy." Again, tears!

To see her interact in this world, with others and demonstrate the same type of kindness I see at home makes me think that everything will be okay. Words really can't convey how proud I am of her.

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On another topic I am two weeks away from giving birth to baby number three. This sure snuck up on me. It's hard to believe that we will soon be a family of five. Thinking about getting my oldest to school, my middle to gym class, and all the other errands I normally have to run while toting along a newborn gives me a bit of anxiety but I'm sure I'll figure it all out. People do it all the time and I had these fears with each of my previous two children and it all turned out fine. Moms figure it out. That's what we do.

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