Growing Up

David rode off to school today on his scooter. Alone. His sisters weren't ready yet. He scooted off with an air of matter of fact confidence, wearing his puffy orange jacket and Toy Story backpack. I felt a pang as my youngest rode off to his first Tuesday of kindergarten. He has had a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday schedule, but this week it bumped up to Monday through Thursday. Sigh.

I did have a lovely day, nonetheless. The weather was delightful. I did some old fashioned letter writing and walked the letters to the post office. I had lunch with a friend and visited with her outside next to their gnarly old weeping willow. My walk home was wistful as I passed by the school and headed home. The children didn't need me to meet them at the school door today.

Carie had expressed her desire to walk home alone. David had scooted off alone, as did Maggie. This morning I emailed Carie's teacher to make sure she knew the walking plan and emailed David's teacher to make sure he connected with Maggie to scoot home together. Carie's teacher replied, "Wow! Another big step on the "growing up" road! :-)"

After school I started to get a little anxious when none of the kids were home within six minutes of the final bell. I looked at the field, expecting Carie to be crossing it. When I didn't see her, I decided to take a stroll to the corner. I saw her and waved, wondering if she'd be offended or pleased. She seemed pleased. We walked and talked for the final stretch. David and Maggie soon followed on the "growing up" road and the afternoon mayhem began.