It has started.
I was able to put it off a couple of years. We intentionally have kept our oldest home from school two years longer than most. We wanted to train him in our values and strengthen his ties to family. I hope that years into the future, we will discover that these years accomplished their purpose.
I taught him to read, to count, write, and play piano. I made every breakfast and lunch. I supervised his days, scheduled his activity, managed his education. And today, he proved that he doesn't need me for that anymore. My heart!
Today was the day we went to check out the school he will attend next year. I knew he was nervous, so I helped him pick out clothes he would think were cool. I gave him a hair cut. (Overboard, maybe? He needed one anyway.) He was silent on the way there, and respectful, but shy with the principal and school nurse when they introduced themselves.
We went into the gymnasium and I asked him to sit with the other first graders who had come over by bus to take their tours. He was paired up with two boys in batman shirts. I prayed for a positive experience (I think I meant in school forever, not just for this tour), and off they went.
I didn't cry, but I wanted to. Trying not to hover, I followed from a distance as two very cool 3rd grade boys showed my little almost-2nd-grader around the school he will attend next year. As I stalked observed them, my son was talking, following directions, and acting totally normal and cool. He loved the library and playground.
