School Days and other milestones..

It is that time of year again... we have the new back pack on the bed, that "new crayon" smell in it that brings back such memories to me of all my "first days", the crisp new clothes, socks and undies, new lunch box, and a clean new calender to fill in with all the upcoming school events. I love this time of year, not only because it means I will have some time to myself again, but also because I am lucky in that my boys love school and can't wait to get back into their school routine and see all their friends.

We have another milestone event happening this weekend, that makes me a little teary eyed. My sweet Sarah is 20 and is moving into her own apartment. She is starting her second year of college and I am lucky that I had her for one extra year after high school. Thankfully it is only about fifteen minutes from us and five minutes from her grandparents. She is totally thrilled and it is a sweet little apartment. It is a super safe area (but then, we live in a wonderfully super safe small town!) and she is so excited to have her own space where she can "do whatever she wants, whenever she wants", as she puts it. We have had fun this week going back and forth taking little things and Saturday will be the day she will move in and spend her first night alone. It is time, but nonetheless I will miss her. She is my second child to move out, and I still have two more to go, but I know it will seem a little empty here with her gone. ANYWAY, I always think of this poem each year as school starts and wanted to share it. I am anticipating next week when it will be just the animals and I at home each day and I will have time to sit and create.. Hope you are enjoying these days last days of summer.

World, I bequeath to you today one little girl in a crispy dress, with two blue eyes, and a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light blond hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I Trust You'll Treat Her Well

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning and skipping off down the street to her first day at school. And never again will she be completely mine.Prim and proud, she'll wave a young and independent hand this morning, and say goodbye and walk with little-lady steps to the nearby schoolhouse. Gone will be chattering little hoyden who lived only for play, and gone will be the delightful little gamin who roamed the yard like a proud princess with nary a care in her little world.

Now, she will learn to stand in lines and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She will learn to tune her little-girl ears for the sound of school bells, and for deadlines.She will learn to giggle and gossip, and to look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue.

Now she will learn to be jealous, and now she will learn how it is to feel hurt inside, and now she will learn how not to cry. No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch while an ant scurries across a crack in the sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew.

Now she will worry about important things like grades and what dresses to wear, and whose best friend is whose. Now she will worry about the little boy who pulls her hair at recess time, and staying after school, and which little girls like which little boys, And the magic of books and knowledge will soon take the place of the magic of her blocks and dolls.

And she'll find her new heroes. For five full years I've been her sage and Santa Claus, her pal and playmate, her parent and friend. Now, alas, she'll learn to share her worship and adoration with her teachers (which is only right.)

No longer will her parents be the smartest, and greatest in the world. Today, when the first school bell rings, she'll learn how it is to be a member of the group, with all its privileges, and, of course, its disadvantages, too.Today, she'll begin to learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. That "the group" can be a demanding mistress, and I'll standon the porch and watch her start out on the long, long journey to becoming a woman.

So WORLD, I BEQUEATH TO YOU TODAY ONE LITTLE GIRL in a crispy dress, with two blue eyes, a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I TRUST YOU'LL TREAT HER WELL - Daniel Valentine-