It's Time...

Tomorrow is the big day. This is tough for me. I remember when I went to kindergarten and my mom walked me to class. I thought, "SEE YA LATER!!!" It was no big deal. But for me, as the mommy, it IS a big deal.

We went to Meet the Teacher night last week. Her teacher seems VERY caring and sweet, just like any parent would hope for a kindergarten teacher. Afterwards, Hailey and I had our own dinner out together. She told me she's, "excited, nervous and a little scared," to go to kindergarten. However, she's most looking forward to riding the bus because she can't WAIT to do that. We shall see.... Here she is at our dinner out.

I love how she ate her pizza. Doesn't everybody replace the crust to make an empty circle?

It isn't the idea that I now have a child in elementary school that makes it tough. It's the fact that my level of control now drops. I've always been right there to know her friends and her environment. I've always been able to protect her from the hurtful parts of the world. I feel like this era is coming to an end a bit. Although, as a parent, one of my goals has always been to prepare my kids to feel like they can do anything in this world. I want them to be self-sufficient and people who are independent thinkers. I can't keep her with me forever, nor is it the way life is meant to be, but it still stings a bit. It's just the mommy in me.

And so, I know this is a good thing. However, if I hear one more person say that once they hit kindergarten, the rest just flies by and they're gone, I may lose it. I'm ready to let her start her own journey, but I'm NOT ready for her to actually be grown up yet. We've got too many memories to make before then.

Here's her new backpack, which she L-O-V-E-S.

And, here's the little bit of home that I'm sending her as a lunch surprise tomorrow. I hope to make it a tradition. Maybe add a bible verse once she's reading even more. I just always want her to know how loved she is as she becomes the person God wants her to be!

Stay tuned for pictures that we'll take tomorrow morning!