END

1 b(2): the point where something ceases to exist


It arrives too quickly. Wasn't it just yesterday we were buying three new backpacks, three lunchboxes, countless school shirts and skirts? Wasn't it last week that K cut her hair less than twenty four hours before starting kindergarten? How is it the end of A's elementary school career? Is it really possible that tomorrow at noon she will cease to be an elementary student and become a middle school one?


Here are a few of the things I'll miss about this year ending:

Three daughters at one school - running in to each other in the hallway, bumping into a sister's friend in the library, one drop off point, one pick up point, one place for our family to connect with our community
Familiarity - I know this sweet little elementary school, know the teachers, the students, the parents, but I don't know the first thing about how to homeschool a daughter wise beyond her years with a bright and quick mind, but who needs instruction nonetheless

Knowledgeable, trained, loving, excellent teachers - each of my daughters have been blessed with great teachers in their time at Lockeland, so I'll be sad to navigate A's educational waters alone, not only in uncharted territory, but with little in the way of compass and maps

Time alone - let's be honest, I have loved having time to read, write, run errands, do laundry and create without my daughters constantly with me. It will be a huge adjustment to have A with me nearly all the time for the next fifteen months. So I'll definitely miss the time alone that elementary school has afforded me.

Yet I know - have experienced - that an end leads to a beginning. We do have much to look forward to with joyful anticipation:

History - a lovely, fun, amazing book arrived yesterday. When A and I opened it up, her eyes lit with pleasure and she dropped to the floor to inspect it closer. That was a glimmer of the spark I'm hoping to ignite with next year's homeschooling.

Summer - I'm always ready for summer to arrive. I'm ready for breakfast in our pj's, following by mornings in our pj's, followed by picnic lunches and afternoons in our swimsuits. This summer is no exception. I'm looking forward to picking blueberries, swimming at the lake, seeing gorgeous glass art at Cheekwood and much, much more.

Growing daughters - each year brings my daughters a bit closer to independence, a bit closer to the women they will one day be. This is a tad bittersweet, but I do love seeing them grown and learn and it's truly beautiful to see them start to enter the chrysalis of adolescence and know they will emerge as women, not girls.

Still, the end is upon me too soon. This year of snow day after snow day, a full week off in May due to flooding and a spring marked by a mother stuck in post-surgery recovery has sped by at an accelerated rate. I look forward to the things to come, but I'm walking away from this year of parenting a kindergartner, third grader and fourth grader looking back over my shoulder with tears in my eyes.