The Beginning of the Beginning

When our children are born, we immediately start the process of “letting go” of them. They start by sitting up by themselves and being able to entertain themselves for a few minutes and quickly move into running…usually away from you. For example, the kids and I went for a walk today, and Parker refused to hold my hand deciding instead that he wanted to run after Madi with reckless abandon.

Another “letting go” moment? The first day of preschool. Fortunately, Madi was excited to go and play with her friend Ellie that she met last week at her open house, so when Ben and I dropped her off, she unloaded her coat and backpack, and took off running with hardly a backward glance. I had to remind her to say goodbye!

Parker and I were a little more reluctant about leaving her there. He didn’t quite understand why he and his bear backpack were getting back into the car, and cried all the way home. (It’s only a two minute drive, so it wasn’t too traumatic, I guess.) I got a little misty too, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it because I had to dash off to Parker’s first Gymboree class.

So in one part of town, Madi was exerting her independence, learning new things without me. Heaven forbid, right? It is a weird transition from having a say over most of what she experiences to giving that responsibility to anyone else. It takes a lot of trust, which I do have in her school – she is going to be learning Bible verses and stories along with all the other preschool “stuff” – but it is still difficult to give that up. But hey, she had a blast – she was the “special helper” today, feeding the fish and taking the papers down to the office, and she proudly told me that she painted a picture of a dinosaur.

In another part of town, Parker was in Gymboree class exploring the concept “big and little” and jumping into every activity. There is this little “freeze” song where they tap on a big inflatable airlog and then at certain points they “freeze” and put their hands on their head. Parker was cracking me up – whipping his hands up to his head – loving every minute of his adventure, even though he wanted to shake the outside of the parachute rather than sit in the middle with the other kids.They both just seem so grown up.

Well, I survived “letting go” of them today…letting them experience new things and places. It is the beginning of the beginning for Madi…today it is counting to ten and eating cookies for a snack…someday it will be algebra and pizza day, but we have begun the journey. It is going to be an unforgettable ride.