The End and the Beginning

Last Friday was Hope's last day of preschool. Forever. As my oldest baby she is stuck with all the firsts. The first to go to preschool, the first to end preschool, the first to go to Kindergarten. My goodness, I just realized this means I officially have a Kindergartener at home now.

I loved Hope's preschool teacher. She was the perfect fit for our sweet and extremely timid daughter, and a perfect fit for our family struggling through our first experiences of sending a child to school. She made each family feel important and each student feel special. And the only reason I didn't bawl when we said good-bye was because Paige will have her for a teacher next year.

There are so many mixed emotions going through me right now. I would blame the pregnancy, but who am I kidding? I'm a mixed emotions kind of girl any time.

I love that Hope is getting older. That she is growing up and gaining independence. That she is learning about the world and meeting new people. That she is understanding jokes and sarcasm. That she wants time to herself but she still likes to snuggle. I love love love it all.

But sometimes it's hard to watch her grow older too. It's hard to say goodbye to preschool. To know that she will be gone every single day. (And the year after that she'll be gone every single day all day long.) That things are shifting in our family. I love it all, I really do. But sometimes it's hard. It's hard to know that there will come a time when she doesn't think I'm great, but is instead embarrassed by my very existence.

It's hard. But I try to remind myself that today is not that day. Today I am still her world (along with numerous friends). And this growing up thing? I've got time.

Here's a photo from Hope on her first day of her last year of preschool this past fall, and then on her last day of preschool this spring:

Happy Summer to all!

xoxo,

Christine