One day down… thirteen years to go

Today was my baby’s first day at school. My hubby had the day off, so we all got ready and piled in the car with enough time to drive to school via Perth so that we weren’t late! My in-laws dropped in to take some pictures of our daughter in her uniform this morning, and my mother-in-law cried. I didn’t think that I would cry today, since I had shed so many tears last night while getting her tiny uniform ready, but I cried again. We helped her settle into the classroom, and then followed the class off to the assembly, where all of the reception children were led on stage and greeted with a handshake by the principal, she looked so cute, and little! And on the way back to the classroom, she cried, and so I cried.
I think that as parents, it is hard to sit there and watch our children grow up, learn things that we did not teach them, and make mistakes. But as the mother of a ‘just-five-year-old’, today I just wanted to stay with her and talk with her about all of the things that she did not understand, talk about the rules that she was expected to follow, explain why all of the girls were wearing the same uniform, and hold her hand while she listened and played. But I guess that just shows why children start school at the age that they do… so that by the time they are twenty-something, their mothers have hopefully learned to let go and let them live their lives the way that they want to. And, even though I have realised it, I still hope that it would have sunk in by the time our ‘baby’ reaches that stage. Anyway, until next time...