The Last First Day

The first day of school is here! Maybe you sent your kiddo off to their first day of kindergarten this week. Some of you may be gearing up for the first day of preschool or ECFE next week. Either way, the first day of school often comes with mixed emotions for kids and parents. Many of you may be wondering how your baby can possibly be going into preschool, kindergarten or maybe the last year of elementary school. Maybe, just maybe, there are a few of you out there who are in the same boat as me. This week I sent my oldest baby off to her last first day of school. That's right, somehow she is already a Senior in high school and I am left wondering where the time has gone.

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about where the time has gone. And I keep returning to the old adage, "the days are long but the years are short." I know, I know. You've heard this before but when you are in the trenches with your baby or toddler or preschooler you might feel like this stage will never end. But I am here to tell you it will. And more importantly you will miss things from each stage.

Looking back to when my daughter was a 10 month old baby who still woke up 3 times a night and would only go back to sleep if I nursed her, I can remember thinking that I would never sleep through the night again. Eventually, she stopped needing to nurse and learned to fall back to sleep on her own. And even though I was so grateful for the uninterrupted sleep, I missed those quiet moments in the middle of the night when I would snuggle her close in the rocking chair. There was nothing quite as wonderful as those moments when she would fall asleep, sigh and smile contentedly. And even though I was exhausted, I would often sit for just a few extra minutes watching my baby sleep.

Or when she was a preschooler and no one and I mean no one but me understood her when she talked. She happened to have a pretty severe speech articulation delay. We wanted nothing more than for her to be able to speak clearly. After a few months of speech therapy, the missing sounds started to develop and suddenly more and more people could understand her. This was great for her and us. And yet, I missed hearing her say "Taby" or thank you in her language.

I even miss things from the terrible year when she was twelve. Ugh! Twelve was rough. I wasn't sure I was going to survive twelve but I did and she did too. Twelve was the year where she was still a little girl in a lot of ways but she was also fighting to become more independent, more grown up. I miss those moments when she showed her "little girl" like when she still wanted to be read to or tucked into bed or have her dad sing her her song.

This week I hugged my girl and sent her off to the first of many lasts that will happen this year. I celebrated the start of this new milestone and all the exciting things that are yet to come. I also let myself cry, just a little because I know I will miss so many things when she is off to college next year.

So just remember, "the days are long but the years are short." Know that each new stage will bring with it new challenges and things to celebrate but one thing will hold true. You will miss things, things you never thought you would miss, from each stage. So pause and enjoy the stage you are in. Don't wish it away, even the hard parts.