When I was little girl growing up in Pennsylvania, June always meant exciting things: the start of warmer days, swimming in my neighbor’s pool, catching lightening bugs, rehearsing for the summer play at the local community theater, and of course, the end of school. What’s that old song? “No more pencils. No more books. No more teacher’s dirty looks?”
This year when I flipped my calendar to June, I couldn’t help feeling a little sad. This June, lots of things are ending and not just my favorite television shows. (Do we really have to wait till September to find out what happened with Alicia and Will on “The Good Wife?”) I was feeling a little sad because as this summer starts, things are changing for my family.
Next Tuesday, my daughter graduates preschool. She has had three wonderful years at Miss Tanya’s Nursery School in Westborough. Each day, I have been able to drop her off and pick her up. I’ve stood in line with the other parents and chatted about our lives. My son (who I used to bring with me in the carrier) now runs around with the other kids and gives his sister a big kiss when she comes bounding out of the Frog room with the day’s projects in hand.
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Come September, I will no longer drop her off at school. She will ride the big yellow school bus with kids we haven’t met yet and start kindergarten. She will begin her Grafton school career. On one hand, I am very excited for her. A whole world awaits her! She will read books and travel through wardrobes, fall down rabbit holes, and sail across oceans. She will learn math (and hopefully master fractions much more easily than I ever did.) She will learn things that that I didn’t even know to teach her.
On the other hand, it is big world, and a world I know that can be a little scary. I can’t help but be a little worried for her. Will she make friends? Will she like to learn? Will she remember all that I have taught her: to be kind, to be patient, to be polite?
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I guess I will find out at in the fall. In the meantime, we still have this summer. Things don’t have to change just yet. And in the long run, I know this is a good change. She will grow, she will learn, she will change (and so will I.)
Are things changing for your family this summer? Do you have a kid going off to college or starting kindergarten? Let me know in the comments. Maybe we can start a parent support group for coping with our children growing up!