The Last First Day

It was a major struggle to climb out of bed this morning.  We had done just as we do every summer the moment school lets out…revert into “Night Owl” mode.  Our entire family seems happiest staying up until the wee hours and sleeping in a bit. 

When I first suggested a couple weeks ago that we need to start getting to bed early so that we could get up early, I got a few mumbles and a lot of eye rolls.  Then, my dear, dear children reminded me of the time that we all got up before the crack of dawn for what I called a “practice run.”  Everyone dutifully got dressed and ate breakfast then sat down in the still dark living room to stare at each other and wait.  After a few minutes of  this, my cynical daughter (I’ll let you guess which one that is) asked what we were supposed to be doing.  It didn’t take us long to decide that the best thing to do was crawl back into bed.  After all, we had proved to ourselves that we could get up and ready in a timely manner. 

So this morning, Mimi and I dragged ourselves out of bed and tried to pretend that we were human.  Oh…wait.  That was just me.  For some strange reason, my youngest child was up, ready and bouncing around.  I had forgotten that she is always excited about the first day of school.

                  It’s your job to remember that I was barely awake, caffeine-free and barefooted.  Please pretend that these are amazing shots in a non-neglected garden.  Thank you.

As is our tradition, I grabbed the camera and waited while my child posed in the same spot she has posed at for years on the First Day of School.  I had expected to be upset that KT wasn’t going to be in these pictures.  I guess that I had made my peace with the thought of my eldest child being away at college, because it didn’t bother me at all.  (Then again, I wasn’t really awake, so it’s hard to say.)

Halfway through our little photo shoot (Which took all of five minutes.) I realized that this was the very last First Day of School we would ever have.  Wow. 

As Mimi gave me a quick hug and kissed my cheek before driving off to school, it really sunk in for me.   My baby girl was a now a senior in high school.  How on earth had that happened already?  Wasn’t it just the day before yesterday that I was taking photos of a brand-new kindergartener? I think that if I had been a little more awake I would have shed a few tears just as I had on that very first day so many years ago.  

The thing is, when Mimi first started kindergarten, as excited as I was for my girl, I was even more sad for me.  My sweet baby was growing up, and I simply hadn’t been ready for that.  Now, as my lovely teenager is entering her last year of high school, I’m more excited for her than I am sad for me. 

Her future is wide open.  There are so many directions she can head out towards and explore in this wonderful world of ours.  I’m so excited and so very proud of her. 

It’s going to be a great year…

We love you Mimi