I woke up this morning with a start. It’s the first day of school! My Teenager is officially a SENIOR. My oldest Girlie is heading to 1st Grade. Today marks another set of first day moments for my memories. It’s so hard to believe that these two have come this far. I remember holding each of them in my arms so clearly, now seeing them walking out the door this morning was bittersweet. They have grown up so fast. Yet my memories seem set on making time slow down just a bit.
The Teenager is pretty independent at this point so as I was waking up my Girlie and getting her all bathed and dressed in her first skirt/polo shirt combo uniform, he was already showered, dressed and downstairs eating and listening to his music in those ever-present earphones. As we came down the stairs, I looked at him sitting there with his head bopping and couldn’t help but flash back to the day I walked him to Pre-K as he kept asking me if I was sure he had to go. He was only 2 1/2. He had been apart from me before because I had been working and going to school almost since he was born. Yet this was different. He knew it and I knew it. This time he was staying home with Grandma. I wouldn’t be coming to check on him at lunch time and he would be in the comfort of home. He knew he was going to be with strangers. A teacher he met only once and kids he never met before.
As we walked down the pathway to the Pre-K entrance I felt his little hand grip mine just a that much tighter. It was all I could do not to wrap him up in my arms and make a run for it back to the car. What would we be running from? Reality? The reality that I was giving my baby boy to the real world and not getting him back? That from this point on he was going to be in school for the next 12 years at the least? There was no place to run. We had to face this together. Like we did everything and like we always would. So we walked on.
I stopped at the door for a moment and assured him that everything was going to be fine. Grandma was going to be there for him as soon as it was time to go home and Mommy would be home right after work. I told him I wanted to know everything that happened that day at school. I told him not to be scared and to make new friends. This is something I said almost every year of school until he was too old to worry or old enough to know it on his own.
Then today, I stood and watched as my Teenager sat there with no worries of this 1st day. This day was no biggie. It’s SENIOR year and he’s a Pro. He’s done this plenty of times before and there was no need to hold my hand and ask if he has to go. Yet some part of me want to ask because I know that after this year he will be going much farther than our front door. After this year, he will walk to the path of College a life I have hopefully prepared him for. Instead I snapped my first day of school pictures and made my memories because today I saw in front of me the young man he was to become as well as the baby he will always be in my heart.
When I returned and sat with my Girlie as she ate her breakfast, she started telling me how excited she was to go back to school and to meet her new teacher. How she couldn’t wait to talk to her friends from Kindergarten and find out where she was going to sit, what 1st Grade was all about and what her classmates were like. I sat there smiling and thinking how grown she has gotten since last year. I remembered how excited she was then as well.
My Girlie has always been my ‘old soul’ child. The one who seemed a lot older in wisdom and knowledge than her 6 years may give her credit for. So as she went on about how she still remembers her lunch number and what she planned on telling her teacher she did over the summer I knew she was going to be okay. She had no worries about leaving me for the day, how her day would go or making friends. This was my confident little Rockstar and I couldn’t wait to hear the stories she would come home with at the end of the day.
Still as we made our way to the door, backpack all stuffed with supplies and her big girl uniform pressed and tucked, I still gave my pep talk. I told her I wanted to know everything that happened that day at school, not to be scare and to make new friends. Afterall, I saw in her the young woman she too would become but right now, right now I had my baby and she would always be in my heart.
I have two more Kiddies I will have to have these First Day Moments For My Memories to make, how will I handle them? I’m not sure. do I look forward to them? Yes. I know they have to come because without them none of the other major moments will follow. Does it make it easier? Not really. Still I love every second of them.
How did you deal with you Kiddies First Day Moments? Did they spark any memories of moments passed?
- The ‘Dirt’ on Dirty Whiskey Craft Cocktail Bar - August 6, 2021
- I Never Went To Prom – Will A Fashion Show Do? - May 1, 2021
- Cape Fear Regional Theatre – Best In The House - May 1, 2021
11 thoughts on “First Day Moments For My Memories…”
I wish you had a comparison photo of your oldest on his first day of pre-k and his Senior Year.
Thanks for linking up for #FlashbackFriday
I know!!! I may have one but we have moved so much I have to dig that up… 🙂
Thank you for hosting…
Such a beautiful post. My 4 yr old also had her first day at reception (big school to her) last Friday and I too was wondering where the years have gone. Me and my husband took a lot of pictures whilst she modelled her new school uniform 🙂 There's a part of me that worries, about what she'll face without me there to protect her. The other part of me is very proud of how far she's come and eager to see what greatness lies ahead. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much… I think we all have those two parts of ourselves that we have to balance to be sure our Kiddies have great 1st days…if they only knew 🙂
Hello! Im here from #flashbackfriday from Chasing Joy! My two munchkins started 3rd and 4th grade last month and I can not believe it! I can't imagine them being seniors in high school!
Hi! Thanks for coming by…
It was a crazy moment…I think seeing him being a Senior and my oldest Girlie going to 1st Grade just made me flashback a bit…he was my only child for 10 years… lol 🙂
SO sweet! Those milestone days like first days of school always make me look back at those memories. While time seems so slow in the day to day, those look backs make it seem so fast!!Love that your memories are so vivid!
Awww! I get it! My little rockstar started Kindergarten this year and it was a day we didn't know would happen. But I think those little bodies with those giant backpacks are the cutest things ever!
I'm so happy you're Rockstar was able to make this goal…Aren't they the cutest??? 🙂
Oh this made me tear up a little. I see the little boy in my now sophomore and wonder where this time went. Each of my other boys have now had their first days, but none was like that first one.
My youngest is now in Kindergarten, and thankfully I get to homeschool him. I would have been an ugly crying mess if I'd had to drop this one off. He's my little Peanut and I'm not quite ready to let him go yet.
Isn't there something with the 1st babies? These two are my first boy and my first Girlie…I don't know what it is…