The last week of April was a tough one on this mama and her first-born. Tuck’s last preschool program was on the 27th and the 29th was Kindergarten Round-up. Obviously this is tough on me but why on Tucker? This 5 year old might not like look like his mom but we are two of the same when it comes to sad good-byes and scary new beginnings.
He knows he’s going to Kindergarten in the fall. He also knows that his days… and I mean 8:30am to 4pm…. will be spent away from everything he knows. Everything will be new and unfamiliar and NOT with mom. I think this last part is actually the scariest part for him. I have been trying to prep him for this. I put on my happy face, though this is the hardest happy face I’ve ever put on because I’m sending my first born to KINDERGARTEN! Every new change he goes through for the the first time, so do I. Don’t get me wrong, I do love a certain amount of change, just not when it involves my child going out into the big world where the innocence of staying home with mom (also known as his bubble) will be broken. Wow I sound uptight about this! It’s just all so new. Come August, this new adventure will be welcomed with open arms. Shoot, there are days now that I’m ready to call the elementary school and ask if I could just drop him off and I’ll pick him up next May.
So I put on my happy, overly excited face that evening as he, his dad, and I went to the new school so that he could meet his new teachers and LOTS of other kids. The first part of the evening consisted of the three of us sitting in the library being welcomed by his principal. Soon I felt him start to hug my arm and not let go. I had been strong all day, putting on that (artificial) happy face. This was fun – so fun I could just hardly wait --- remember the word ‘artificial’? Anyway, I looked down at this little person hugging my arm with tears welling up in those big blue eyes and all that strength I had mustered all day was gone, all GONE. I lost it – completely lost it. He was crying. I was crying. The principal was getting ready to dismiss the kids to go with their new teachers for activities while we (the parents) stayed in the library to go over all the ‘boring’ school stuff. And there I was in the middle of my ugly cry. I’m pretty sure I was the only one (other than a few other 5 year olds) not in control at that moment. How embarrassing! Darrin looks at these two pathetic souls sitting to his right and lets out his common little chuckle (with eyes rolling) that he does every time he watches his wife watch one of those Hallmark commercials. We’re emotional – Tucker and I. We always will be. Thank goodness Darrin was the one to take Tuck to the teacher. He knows me well. He knows that when the ugly cry comes out, this woman doesn’t want perfect strangers to witness the swollen eyes and puffy red nose. I got myself under control and evidently Tucker did too. We picked him up in his new classroom and he just couldn’t stop talking about how excited he was for Kindergarten. I’m SO glad!
1 comment:
Honestly, this makes me cry while reading it. Darn you.
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