Summer's End

Summer is winding down.

The free summer movies are almost over.
The back-to-school sales are on.
It is August.

I am not ready to send my Kindergartener on to 1st grade.

She is ready, but I'm not.

I like having her here all day long. I like when she wakes up at 8:30 fully rested and happy. Getting up at 6:00 every morning, like we have to do during the school year, is rough on her.

Yes, she gets bored and begs for me to think of something (anything) for her to do; she gets bored and picks on her brothers until they beg for mercy; she even gets bored and gets in trouble for making messes where she is not supposed to.

But I would still rather have her here than at school.

This is selfish, I know.

She needs school. She needs the new friendships that she will make. She needs the lesson plans, the teachers, the schedule, and the school field trips. She needs to be without me to test her own wings, to have her own ideas, to face her own challenges. Alone.

She is going to grow so much this year, just like she did last year.

And that is her right.

Even though I would choose to keep her my little girl forever, she is choosing to grow up, right before my very eyes.

She is only 6 years old but already I am seeing the woman she will become.

She will know her own mind. She will know her worth.

And she will know that she is loved.