I originally posted this two years ago when Rose began first grade. This next Monday, my little one, my baby girl, my Grace will begin Kindergarten.
Now, you wouldn't think this would be a big deal. After all, she already attends daycare and is very comfortable being away from me and her big sister during the day. But there is something about going off to the big kids' school.... and the fact that it's my baby...
I'm gonna be a mess!
I Trust You'll Treat Her Well
World, I bequeath to you today one little girl in a blue skirt.. with two brown eyes...and a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of golden hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.
She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning and skipping off through the doors to her first day at school.
And never again will she be completely mine...
Prim and proud, she'll wave a young and independent hand this morning, and say goodbye and walk with little-lady steps into her classroom...
Gone will be the chattering little girl who lived only for play, and gone will be my delightful little love who roamed the yard like a proud princess with nary a care in her little world.
Now, she will learn to stand in lines...and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called...
She will learn to tune her little-girl ears for the sound of school bells, and for deadlines...
She will learn to giggle and gossip... and to look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue.
Now she will learn to be jealous...and now she will learn how it is to feel hurt inside...and now she will learn how not to cry. No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch while an ant scurries across a crack in the sidewalk...
Or will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew. Now she will worry about important things...like grades...and what dresses to wear...and whose best friend is whose. Now she will worry about the little boy who pulls her hair at recess time... and staying after school...and which little girls like which little boys...And the magic of books and knowledge will soon take the place of the magic of her blocks and dolls.
And she'll find her new heroes. For five and a half years I've been her sage and Santa Claus...her pal and playmate...her parent and friend. Now, alas, she'll learn to share her worship and adoration with her teachers (which is only right).
No longer will her parents be the smartest, and greatest in the world. Today, when the first school bell rings, she'll learn how it is to be a member of the group...with all its privileges, and, of course, its disadvantages, too.
She'll learn in time that proper young ladies don't laugh out loud...or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms...or watch ants scurry across the cracks in a summer sidewalk...
Today, she'll begin to learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. That "the group" can be a demanding mistress... and I'll stand in the doorway and watch her start out on the long, long journey to becoming a woman.
So WORLD, I BEQUEATH TO YOU TODAY ONE LITTLE GIRL in a blue skirt, with two brown eyes, a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of golden hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.
I TRUST YOU'LL TREAT HER WELL.
...as read on the radio by Kidd Kraddick
Oh! This made me teary. I know how you feel my one and only, Sunshine, started Kindergarten today...
ReplyDeleteMy youngest starts school in a couple of weeks. I fully anticipate being a complete mess. :-(
ReplyDeleteAwwww! So true.
ReplyDeleteMy little one doesn't start Kindergarten until next year. Funny thing is that I will be starting my first day of teaching on her first day of kindergarten! Sob fest in the making. This year I get to be there on the first day of school on my student teaching. I feel privileged to be able to see it from both angles, from the parent’s point of view, and the teachers. In my classroom (and in most of the goodhearted teachers out there) they are in good hands :)
ReplyDeleteSo so sweet.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me a little teary eyed. I have 2 years until I send my little one off. I am sure I will be a mess.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on her hitting Kindergarten. My little baby flies off to college today. I hoisted a Wilco Tango Foxtrot ale (read the acronym) in commiseration :-)
ReplyDeleteLO starts kindergarten the same day! Well, her first FULL day will be the 25th. She is so excited.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. Perfect timing.
Aw, love this. So sweet! hard to imagine your little girls growing up, I can imagine...nicely done!!
ReplyDeleteKindergarten! Oh, how I wish! Mine's 6'1" and shaving!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a sweet post, I, too, got teary ...
But, really, T — proper young ladies don't laugh out loud
Does that mean I have to stop, and grow up — now? ;-)
Never, Kat, NEVER!!! That's one of the things that people remember about me. I do laugh out loud and with full abandon! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, shoot! That brought tears to my eyes. Here I am sniffling at work again. Thanks for sharing! My one and only little boy is starting Kindergarten this month - talk about being a mess... glad to hear it's not just me!
ReplyDeleteSkylar's first day of kindergarten was yesterday. She's in love with school. I didn't even get a kiss goodbye! She hung up her bag and hauled ass the playground. I just stood there dumbfounded. But hey, who can complain? But wow! I can't believe they're growing up so fast!
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