Nursery, reception class, junior, senior, college…each new beginning it gets a little harder to deal with.
Knowing that the kids are growing too fast, knowing that they wont be ‘newbies’ for long and that they will soon be the children who the ‘little ones’ look up to help them fit in.
But for now, they are the ones, who look nervous getting dressed on a morning, slipping on that pinafore or pleated trousers for the first time, looking every bit the big boy or girl you tell them they look like, while choking back tears at the same time.
Watching them take a deep breath and walk through the gates for that first time, looking back to make sure you are still there, waving slightly hoping you will go back and hug them one more time before they step into a giant room filled with other little replica children, all seated in rows, looking the same and feeling no doubt every bit as scared as the one they sit next to.
I hope you make friends quickly.
I hope you have fun.
I hope you enjoy your lunch (and don’t have to eat too many sprouts!)
I hope you get to show everyone how smart and cool you are.
I hope you enjoy learning and playing.
I hope most of all you know I will be there, waiting with open arms for you to come running out of those gates at the end of each day.
XOXO
Mummy