In the beginning…

So, here you are.  Standing on the precipice between that fluid time when childhood is still beginning to form without formal boundaries and guidelines and the edge where life becomes more defined by conventions.  It is both exhilarating and anxiety producing.  A transition much like the time between fetus and infant.  Here you are, ready to birth your child into the next stage.  Or maybe not ready at all…

For many, tomorrow is the day you will hand your small child over to a system.   A daunting endeavor at best.  It marks the moment that you will no longer have complete access to the thoughts your child has, the food they eat or don’t eat, the games they play or don’t play, the friends they meet, the conversations they have, or the ideas they come in contact with.

For some it will be a day of indescribable excitement, maybe even a step toward freedom from the intensity of raising a fully dependent human.  For others it will be a day of mourning.  Mourning the easy, lazy days of  waking when you want, without the rush of someone else’s schedule,  dropping a sleepy child off in their pajamas to a caretaker or daycare facility, skipping a preschool day to just hang out without consequences.

But tomorrow is also the day that new horizons await, new adventures beckon, and new growth is inevitable.  Tomorrow you will enter a new era of your parenting journey.  It will sometimes feel unstable and unsafe and then like magic you will master yet another facet of this parenting role.  I will be here with you as you birth your child into this next stage.  Pause, breathe, and then dive in, knowing that many have gone before you and flourished!  Happy first day of kindergarten!!!