Happy Cinco de Mayo

The day is almost over, but here is my tribute to Cinco de Mayo...



happymommy

Ahhhhh Kindergarten...

Lilly started kindergarten today.  My oldest is now big enough to be dropped off at the playground and find her way to her classroom.  She can read, write and do a little bit of arithmetic.  When I turn around next, she will be writing her dissertation.  It is hard to believe that I have a little girl in REAL school.  I mean preschool was school, but now, Lilly is a student.  I treasure this day with a bit of happiness at progress, and bittersweet thoughts that they grow too fast.

Lilly - August 2008

Lilly - August 2010

The end of an era...

and a new beginning.

happymommy

Here is what I am worried about today....

The school year is around the corner and Lilly starts Kindergarten.  We will get new shoes, clothes, a backpack and lunch box.  She will make new friends and I hope to as well.  She can read.  She is a born artist.  She does well at ballet and other sports.  But what worries me most is what socially lies around the corner? The images and information out there about "mean girls" and bullies is overwhelming.  

One of my favorite bloggers describes her personal bully experience in grammar school and it scared me to death.  No Style Points describes the horror and a lack of dealing with the problem by her parents as well as the school.  Through her writing one can still see the pain and damage it did to her psyche. 

I don't want this for Lilly, or for James of course, but I have a feeling he will be fine.  I worry about her because she is so like me.  Every day is a new chance at making friends, honoring the ones I have, being the center of attention and most of all, being loved.  

My growing up story gains momentum, much like a fishing story, each year the "fish" gets bigger and bigger.  The bottom line is that I moved so much throughout my young life that I never had a "place."  And when I finally did have a place, we moved again.  Let me make this clear:  we did not move because we were escaping anything.  The military moved my family every three years except for the years my sister was in high school.  My dad did a "hardship" tour so she could finish school with her friends.  By the time I reached high school, I couldn't for the life of me find my place so I  asked to be moved from this school to that one to the next one trying to find peace.  But through this all, even when I was at my loneliest and the most unhappy, I was never bullied.  I imagine that if this would happen in today's world, I would have been.  This is what I fear most.

I think today I find solace in my own life that I am home, in every sense of the word.  But for Lilly, she is just starting.  What can I do to make sure that SHE feels at home, loved and comfortable not only in her own house, but socially?.  

This is what I worry about today.  Tomorrow it will be about why James refuses to wear swim trunks instead of his Speedo.  Welcome to my head.

happymommy

The end of an era....

Today was Lilly's last day of preschool at Star.  When she started she was three.  James was a few months old and cried all the time.  She was ready to branch out into the world.

She was a baby.

Over the next two years she grew into her own.  She made friends, learned her letters and numbers, and kept growing.  I can not say enough about her teachers and her school. 

Teachers... 

They DO make the world go round...

Lilly's Crew...

It's the equivalent of a Preschool Sorority Picture!

I think about Lilly's friends, and the friends I have made these last two years.  I hope that many of them will be in my life for years to come.  But for now.. Goodbye Preschool...

happymommy