Today was the end of one chapter of our lives and the beginning of the next. No longer can I say I have no school aged children. For the next 15 years my family will be inextricably linked to the public school system. Just like that you dive in because the time has come whether you were ready for it or not. Time seems to be sweeping ever faster by and there’s no stopping it or even slowing it down. Friends will be made and replaced and made again. Hearts will flutter with anticipation, ache from disappointment, swell with pride and break with longing. There will be the endless hustle and bustle of the merciless school calendar, and no longer are we the final say in our child’s life.
It’s a good thing, of course, but daunting nonetheless. School is a big deal and upon standing on the playground this morning holding my little girl’s hand I began to realize not only what she is in for, but also what I am in for. There are many expectations of the school world with which I have not had to bother for some time now. As a stay-at-home mom most recently and an entrepreneur before that, I have had a lot of leeway as to my comings and goings. Now attendance is mandatory. Punctuality is not merely a suggestion any longer. No more do we have the freedom of doing what we choose with our time as for the next 180 days we will be told when to come and when to go.
There’s a lot of good that comes with this new accountability. I cannot say that it is not entirely without benefit. In spite of my, free-spirited way of being a little structure might do me as much good as the kids. Who knows? Maybe more! Perhaps, long anticipated projects will get underway and long forgotten projects will get finished. Perhaps I will carve out time to write without phone calls and interruptions, but alas there is still one kid who is not school age, and as if she could hear the tapping at the keyboard from all the way upstairs, she has come to charm me with her cuteness and distract me from the task at hand. I had better enjoy it while it lasts. It won’t be long before I am dropping her off for her first day of kindergarten.