Book Day at LSA

Today my daughter meets her Kindergarten teacher at Book Day, as well as gets to see her classroom, and find out who her little buddies will be in class next year. We already know about several of them, and a couple of those are favorites of hers. But sadly we also know that her "BFF" (if you can really have such a thing at 5 :-) is not going to be a classmate. She and the BFF (I am going to attempt to blog without children's names as so to steer clear of the child predators - "they" say this is a good idea...how functional it is going to be remains to be seen..will be very tough) got to have a sleepover last Friday night (more on that later...a couple of very good stories out of that one), so it was their last "hurrah" before returning to school and not being a part of the same class like last year.

Wednesday is the first day of school, and unlike many moms, this is not a time that usually brings me sadness or tears. Maybe it is because out of necessity, when I worked outside the home, we had to put her in a formal Pre-K3 program two years ago, and then she was in Pre-K4 at her current school last year...so I've been through this before. But just maybe this year will be different for several reasons...

For one, this is Kindergarten...a bit bigger deal than Pre-K, no matter how great the programs were. And secondly, it marks the beginning of the journey I am taking over the next year...we are heavily considering beginning homeschool in first grade. We love the school where she is to pieces, so our reasons have nothing to do with that. I will cover all of my thoughts on this in another blog, but suffice it to say that this MAY be her last "Book Day" or "First Day" at a traditional school. Who knows where this will lead us? Maybe right back here getting ready for first grade...or maybe the beginning of a whole new adventure...

Blessings,
Ellen

Mommy Guilt

Here I am...in the land of the "blog"...I'm not sure where to begin, except to just jump right in. So...topic of the day. I suffer from "mommy guilt"...who out there that is a mommy doesn't? The difference is that each of us have our own area where the guilt lies. The one I am currently referring to is the "I haven't taken enough pictures or home movies of my child while she's growing up" guilt. And to be honest..although I am willing to take full responsibility for this, I have a co-conspirator... my daughter. She is not what you would call a "ham"..especially when the camera comes out..or let me rephrase that. Not when MY camera comes out...luckily for me, she will do anything that her "Aunt Belinda" (otherwise known as Belinda Higgins of Higgins Photography, AKA the best photographer in the world) asks her to do....but when I want to take a picture? You'd think I had just asked her to dye her hair green..which for those of you who know my daughter, know that is way beyond the realm of possibility for her.

This all occurred to me as I was sitting at her last swim lesson for the week - the one where the parents are allowed to watch, take pictures, video, etc., to document their little one's every smile, laugh, move...and I sit there with ...nothing. No camera, no camcorder. Nothing. Not because I care less than the other parents...but because I am so used to the resistance I face when I attempt to chronicle my child's life that I don't even carry a camera anymore. I had given up.

So I have come to a decision - this is going to be one of those things that becomes a non-negotiable in my house...kinda like the nap my five year old still takes because I don't give her a choice, the oatmeal she has eaten almost every school morning for the last two years because it is important to me that she has a good, balanced breakfast, or the "six bite rule" for new foods. The random pictures and movies are going to be part of that too.

Wish me luck everyone...I'm goin' in!