So I just put my little girl down for the last time before she starts REAL school ALL DAY EVERY DAY. And... Yeah. I decided that since Matt is at basketball the best way to cope was to pour myself a big glass of wine and open up a blogger window.
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| This should end well. Like my fancy coaster? |
You guys. HOW DID THAT GO BY SO FAST? I don't understand.
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| Pictured: yesterday? Pretty sure that was yesterday. |
I mean I know some time has gone by by virtue of the sheer amount of other children that I have but all of a sudden I'm the parent of an actual school aged kid.
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| Or based on this photo a sullen teenager. |
This is the end of an era. This is the start of a whole new chapter for us. Between her starting Kindergarten, the Dude headed off to preschool in a few weeks, and Tiny walking... well. The future is now, my friends.
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| Pictured: The future. Those are our penguin overlords. |
A future that maybe doesn't involve the insane management of minutia, the sleep deprivation, the base needs, the... poop... that these last 5.5 years have been centered around.
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| Quick you just wrote about poop - throw in an adorable picture of a pony so they forget! |
I feel like we're pretty tops at this toddler thing by now. And newborns/babies? Bah. Owned. It. But school aged kids are a whole new ball game. I have NO IDEA what to expect. I feel like I'm starting over at parenting. Like they just handed me this tiny baby and sent me off with a few handouts and well wishes. Sure. It will be fine. Millions of people have done this before, right?
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| GAH GAH GAH GAH. |
This time with her going from that itty bitty baby to a KINDERGARTNER OMG has been so amazing. Watching her grow up has been such a privilege. So much of parenting is done in these first few years and I'm so very proud of the little girl she has become.
She is READY for this new chapter. Nervous, sure. But also really, really excited:
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| Packing her lunch for tomorrow. Of course her brother wanted to help.
Also I am completely resigned to the fact that anything I send in for
lunch will NEVER wind up on pintrest. SLACKER MOMS, UNITE! |
I've tried to make sure that this summer would be the best ever EVER. We've done camps and gone to the fair, and stayed out late, and gone to the movies, and built cardboard castles, and rode bikes, and read chapter books, and even squeezed in a little time at the pool:
And gone on so, so many adventures:
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| Akron Zoo. We went one day b/c my daughter told me "I want to go on an adventure today." Adventure, acquired. |
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| Erie, PA. Just because we could. |
I can't believe that is coming to an end. Her adventures will be mainly school related now. Which we wanted - we purposely picked a school with all sorts of amazing opportunities who's whole mission is "
to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, lifelong learners, who have the
courage to act responsibly to make the world a better place" She's going to LOVE it. The whole world is going to open up for her. But (and I know this is selfish) man I'm going to miss her.
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| Pictured. Project Runway Friday Afternoon. My favorite part of the
week. We'd put the boys down for naps and for an hour watch this silly
show together even though I don't usually allow tv during the day and
even though I probably had laundry to fold or something else that needed
done. |
Also the dynamic of two boys? How does that even work? I"m entering a world
of cars and things that vroom and belligerent amounts of energy and incredibly gross books
from the library (eyewitness amphibians? DISGUSTING. Frogs are not
pleasant creatures.) Hold me.
So yeah. Tomorrow. Wish us luck!
