>Kindergarten
>Dear Punky,
The day you started kindergarten, you were so adorable.
You had been such a joy to have at home that I didn’t know what I was going to do without you. How could I hand you over to strangers for the majority of each day? How could I trust them to take the same care with you that I had? I considered home schooling you a thousand times, and only sent you to school with the caveat that if anything, anything went wrong, we’d pull you and let you stay home with me another year.
“I’m not sure if I’m ready for school or not,” you told me that first morning when we brought you to your new classroom.
I knew exactly how you felt. I went home and spent most of the morning sobbing.
It was a few weeks before I managed to finagle my way into your classroom by volunteering as a teacher’s helper. Spending time with your teacher and your class was the best decision I could have made. I’ll never forget coming in that first morning to find a room full of sweet, well-behaved children, a teacher who never raised her voice, yet managed to maintain perfect discipline, a teacher’s aide who was a maternal and reassuring presence to you and your classmates, and a happy, peaceful classroom environment. From that morning on, I stopped worrying about you. You were making friends and you were learning things, and most importantly, you were discovering how much fun it was to learn.
The school year for you became a series of milestones and firsts.
First field trip.
First marathon.
First Thanksgiving pageant.
First best friends.
You learned to spell and add and subtract. You learned to identify money and to count to one thousand. You learned about temperature and time and plants and animals and ocean creatures. You learned a lot of things this past year, but most importantly, you learned to read.
And my heart exploded with pride.
By the end of the school year, you and your classmates were noticeably older and more mature. Your legs were longer. Your faces were thinner. You were expert freeze taggers and seasoned traders of Silly Bandz. You were no longer mommy’s babies.
And before I knew it, it was your last day of school.
The night before as I tucked you in, I asked you if you would miss kindergarten. You nodded and said, “Yes… because it’s kind of like home now, too.”
Those were exactly the words I needed to hear.
You made it through kindergarten, Punky. We made it through.
And I’m so very proud of you.
Love,
Mommy
