Getting It Together

I know I have to get my act together. Normally, it is the sunny weather that keeps me from writing. However, recently we (I) have started the heart aching process of preparing myself for the end of yet another school year. This school year, in particular, was becoming a bitter pill for me to swallow. Not only did it mark the end of our yearly routine, but I was also struggling with the fact that it would be the end of our time at our beloved Oak Meadow Montessori. I don't know that there are really words that I can come up with that would ever express how truly great this school is.

About a month ago, at a teacher luncheon, my friend Amy and I were charged with watching the middle schoolers while those teachers enjoyed a catered lunch. Middle School is my area: they are sassy and fresh on the cusp of learning how to be a young adult. As the teacher prepared to leave for her lunch, she interrupted two middle school boys, "Excuse me, Blah Blah," she says, to which Blah Blah replies, "No, of course." I don't know that it translates well in writing, but Amy and I looked at each other, and hoped that our little six year olds would one day be as mature and respectful. Blah Blah then headed off to play some symphony on the piano. The moral of this segue is that this is the type of child this school breeds. They are not only taught great lessons academically, but at the very young age of three, they are taught to listen, respect, and be kind.

My heart was heavy at the thought of sending my child into the public school system. I am not ashamed to say that.

Endings are hard for me, I cried when Beverly Hills 90210 ended; I cried when Friends ended. I do not like change-- deep down I am 100% Type A control freak. I mask it under the guise that we are simply a well routined family, but the truth is I need things to go a certain way and I plan, plan, plan so that I don't have to deal with the unexpected very often. Dan and I wavered and talked in circles from October to June. What is best for Natalie? What is best for our family? As it turns out, there is some truth to a happy mom = a happy home. Because we were gifted with another year at this school and so I didn't have to say good-bye. I didn't have to say good- bye to her teachers, to my friends, or to this school community in which I am very much a part. And today I was able to watch my baby girl "move up" from Kindergarten and just be a proud mama, not a sad mama.

Congratulation to my Natalie Gabrielle!