Starting kindergarten…..one of the most emotional moments for me as a mommy. My mama friends that work say it isn’t as bad for them because they had that difficult moment of letting go with day care. I am very passionate with my emotions, so I probably would have been a mess either way.
I was beyond a mess through the whole process of Kadon starting kinder, I bawled like a baby when I had to go to the school to register him the spring before he started. To defend my wild emotions, I was preggo with Porter at the time ;). Every time the topic of Kadon going to school came up I cried…literally every time. I did my best to not let him see me cry, he was over the moon excited to start school and was more than ready. He got upset that his Mother’s day out was only two days a week…I knew he was ready, it was me that wasn’t. I LOVE having ALL of my boys home with me! The morning of his first day I did okay, Porter was only 2 months old so my hormones were all over the place. We walked him in, got him settled, took pics, and left. I made a bee line back to the car because I didn’t want to be the mom that totally lost it in the school or in front of everyone. When I made it to the car I was a sobbing mess. How did my oldest babe grow so quickly to be in school 7 hours a day away from me? Yikes.
Everyone told me when Garner started it would be easier. They lied. Well, it was a little easier because I wasn’t hormonal from being preggo when he started school. I still cried pretty much every time the subject came up between the hubby and me, after registration, meet the teacher, blah blah, you get the idea. The morning of the first day though I totally surprised the Hubs and myself and did NOT cry! I think I had cried so much prior that I got it all out of my system. Garner was the one I wasn’t 100% convinced that he should start kinder. He is one of the youngest in his class and I really considered holding him back a year, he thrived though and adjusted so well. I cried the second day though because when I walked both boys into the school he said to me “Mama, I don’t need you to walk me to class. I can do it by myself”. I was speechless, but knew it was one of those moments that I had to put my own feelings aside and let him have his moment to be big. I stood and watched him walk right by his class and get lost….his big brother was there though and helped him get back. That was a very hard moment for this mama, but was also a very proud moment. I was proud of both of my boys.
Marlin: How do you know if they’re ready?
Crush: Well, you never really know, but when they know, you know, y’know?
I don’t even want to discuss Porter going to kinder….I would cry. Duh. I cried the other day because we are getting him a big boy bed and putting the crib in the attic. That is a whole other blog post. Told ya I was passionate with my emotions HA!!!
How did you handle your kids starting school? Was it harder with certain ones (the first born, baby) or all of them? Or were you happy to send them off?
It’s been a long time since I sent my 3 girls off to kindergarten, but I was generally pretty ready for each of them to go. They all went to preschool befehand, and were really READY to go. The one that has totally sent my world into a tailspin is my granddaughter going!! How can she possibly be that old already? Now I can’t just have her come stay with me any old time, for however many days we want! Now it can only be weekends, and I have to share those with her other grandma, her parents, and the many activities (such as birthday parties) that will take place on weekends. She lives 11/2 hours away, so quick little afternoon visits aren’t exactly “quick”. Plus, now I realize that my grandson, who turns 2 this month will be be going in a blink of an eye, and I already don’t get to see him often enough since he lives in TX and I live in IL!
As the working mom whose kid is in daycare and not school yet, I think I will be better about him starting school than daycare. School is what they are ‘supposed to do’. It was hard for me with daycare because I didn’t want to be working. We need my salary, that is the bottom line. But I didn’t WANT to work. Now that I’ve been back for almost 3 years, it’s definitely easier than being a stay at home mom, but I still do get jealous when friends quit their jobs after having their first baby. Bitterly jealous. I already get upset thinking about when Baby Gurl will go to daycare…you know in 10 months. Ha! So point being, I think I will handle kindergarten better (although I’m sure I’ll still be emotional because my kids will be growing up and it’s another milestone) since it is what is ‘required’ if that makes sense.