First Day of School

I just received a picture message from my sister-in-law. Two of my nephews just finished their first day of school today. (Side note: I find it more strange that I have nieces and nephews than a son and daughter. Is that weird? I actually have a lot of nieces and nephews now that I'm married. Three nieces and six nephews!) They looked so grown up in the picture even through they are both the same age as G. I've known them both since they were babies! One was a wild child who put everything into his mouth and had a constantly messy face. The other was the tallest and strongest of the four cousins that were born within a month of each other. He was also, strangely enough, the "crybaby" of the group. I mean no negative connotation for that. I simply mean that he was the one that cried easiest if things didn't go his way. In the picture, both boys look so clean cut in their little uniforms! It's adorable!

G could be off to preschool this year just like his cousins. I decided against it though. The day care that he is at now is pretty spectacular. It is structured to mimic the school experience for the older kids. They do units, go on field trips, and learn basic things like the alphabet, numbers, days of  the week, etc. This year he even gets to learn Spanish! Hopefully he is able to learn it. C's family speaks to him in Spanish all of the time but the only word he knows is leche! His day care is open from 7 am to 6 pm which is probably the number one reason I kept him there this year. None of the preschools around me would be able to watch him for the hours I need to work.

Next year, he won't have a choice; he'll have to start kindergarten. I'm both dreading and looking forward to that day. I'll get to take a cute first day of school pic too and I'll get a break from these outrageous day care costs... But my little boy, my baby, won't be so little anymore. He'll start the slow transition out to the real world. He'll have to start facing problems on his own without my overprotective form of help. He'll have opportunities to fail. I'm so scared for him to grow. Right now he's excited about growing up. All he can see are the exciting experiences he'll gain like staying home alone or riding roller coasters. He doesn't see the wonderful things he's giving up or the potential dangers ahead.

I remember when I thought about growing up the same way. I used to dream of being 16. I thought that was the age of freedom. I thought being able to drive would give me freedom to escape. Once I realized I was wrong, I would dream of being 18. Too bad I was still in high school with 0 freedoms at that point. When I was 18, I tried to fight against my 10 pm curfew. I made a deal with my mom: if I get straight A's for the first semester while still taking the AP classes I planned to, I would have no curfew for the second semester. I fulfilled my end of the bargain. When I attempted to use my no curfew privilege, I was told that the deal was only for non-school nights even though this was never mentioned when the original deal was made. Oh and this also didn't apply to staying out all night. I was forbidden to go on sleepovers, even to girls' houses. I definitely rebelled after that broken deal.

Where was I going with this again? Oh yea. These kids that I knew as babies are growing up and going to school. I feel old.