Oh My -Milestones!!

For both the child and the parent(s) - there comes a defining moment when you realize you can no longer think of your youngest child as "the baby". These past few days have been that moment(s) for our family. Our daughter has been excited about "experience kindergarten" day for weeks, and had her clothes laid out on Monday for this day.

Yesterday, she had her first REAL haircut - meaning more than a trim. This was probably most difficult for my husband, who loves her long hair. Our daughter, is excited, however, about her new look and feels very grown up. Below is a "before" photo.


During the haircut she sang made up songs, and the stylist and I could barely carry a conversation - it was too cute. We put the hair, freshly washed the night before, into a pony tail and we will mail it to Locks of Love, an organization making wigs for children experiencing disease that includes hair loss. There was no way our little girl could keep growing her hair until the required 10" pony tail- that would have trailed well past her bottom and I was not willing to deal with that.(LOL) But the 7" gathered tresses can be used to make bangs for wigs, or can be sold to help fund the making of wigs for children in need. Here, with a beaming smile, our daughter holds her pony tail.


The climax of this week, however, was today. Abby woke up, came to find me her hands clapping all the while with the biggest smile. She was so excited for "experience kindergarten" day. This is a day our elementary school sets aside for children entering kindergarten in the fall. The grade is split into morning and afternoon classes and they spend a couple of hours getting familiar with the school, classrooms, and really just having fun! Abby could not WAIT to go! Here she is - all set and ready to head out the door an hour before we had to be there. (LOL)

What threw me for a loop, however, was the very unexpected trauma that set in moments after we got in the door. She happily put on her nametag, but as soon as strangers (aka adult kindergarten aids) started talking to her she became quite shy and hesitant. I walked her to the classroom door where she absolutely balked at going in, and would not until her friend arrived that she attends pre-school with daily. Thank goodness they had paired the girls together!

Suddenly I had a child clinging to my leg and tears started to roll... the teacher came over to talk to her and encouraged her to join everyone else in a circle. Her friend was already there. Being a weeper, I could feel my own eyes welling up and I needed to get out of there! I am sure Mrs. B (who is wonderful and taught our son in kindergarten as well) noticed and explained to Abby that I needed to get to the parent meeting and she would be fine.

So off I went to the auditorium with a plethora of emotions! I felt silly - surely the only parent with teary eyes, from what I could tell anyhow. I saw a friend, who works as an aid, on my way out, and asked her to check on our daughter. Shortly after I rolled into work my friend called to say everything was absolutely fine and told me how cute all the kids were being. When I picked Abby up the teacher told me the tears stopped the moment I left the room - I figured that would be the case, but it did not make leaving her any easier. Abby was excited about her coloring projects and both girls had lots to share about their morning experiencing "kindergarten". Ah yes...they do grow up, don't they?