Things are changing. Bailey is becoming a mature little man, Mia has left her baby days behind her and is becoming an independent little lady and the biggest change that is round the corner is Sienna starting prep. That means when school resumes for another year next year, I’ll have two out of three of my children going to school!
When you become a mum for the first time, you really only think about the kisses, cuddles and laughter that will be shared with your little ones, but my goodness it’s so much more than that! With each age brings a new phase. For the first few years the phases are ones that are managed from the home and then they turn 4 and 5 and they have to go to school! School! That means 5 days a week, 6 hours a day of being under the influence of someone other than yourself, husband or grandparent! It’s the first bit of the apron string that is cut forever and it’s really hard to stomach!
From the second Sienna was placed on my chest she became my little princess, the sun that brightens up my day with her infectious smile and laugh. Up until the age of 3 and a half she was only ever cared for by myself, my husband or my mother. When she started preschool she was so sad:( She cried when we dropped her off and was ecstatic when we arrived to pick her up! She would beg me to let her stay home with nanny. But then she started to cry less and less when we dropped her off. She started to become confident when having to leave me. She finally found a love of learning and enjoyed having a place that she could call her school!
Thank goodness! I was beginning to think Sienna was never going to want to cut her piece of the apron string, but slowly, bit by bit she has. You spend days and days leading up to the first time they have to leave you feeling sad and terrible and then when they cry and have to be ripped off your leg, you wish that they were happy and excited to be there…you can’t win! Sienna is so much like me. I always cried when I started school for the first time, which makes it even worse because I know exactly how she is feeling! Bailey has always been so different! He has hardly shed a tear when he’s been dropped off somewhere for the first time!
Yesterday was the beginning of what will be a wonderful prep journey for Sienna. It was Runcorn Heights prep orientation day. Sienna was exposed to her teachers, aides, peers and classrooms. She had a wonderful time after feeling a bit apprehensive before we got there. Yesterday showed me that my baby girl has matured and developed so much in terms of her confidence and self-esteem since the beginning of the year! I know I didn’t leave her, but there was no sign of tears or shyness, just lots of smiles and her having fun! This made my stomach feel settled and I was left feeling happy and content:)!
Then the moment when you purchase their school uniform for the first time! They wish for you to rush home so they can try it on. The shirt went on first, then the shorts and finally the hat. They instantly go from your baby to this big grown up that secretly you wish you could squish back up to a baby! You feel the tears wanting to drop from your eyes, but you don’t want them to notice! How did this happen? How did I go from breastfeeding, changing nappies, celebrating her first word and first steps to a prep student, in what feels like a blink of an eye!
This time should be easier, I’ve already done this before. But it’s not. No matter how many times I get one of my children ready to embark on their school journey, I always feel sad…happy for them, but sad that another chapter has closed! But as they say as one door closes another one opens. The new phase for us will be strange and different! I haven’t had one child home with me for 4 and a half years and Mia is going to miss her best gal like crazy! But I know this is the beginning of my little poppet’s education, where she will begin to stamp her mark on this world and for her to do this successfully, I have to set her free and snip that part of the string!
My big prep girl…she looks so adorable and grown up in her uniform:)
