Dear O
Here we are my boy, the day before you start school. We’ve been building up to this day for months. Your uniform is hanging neatly in the wardrobe, your hair is freshly cut, your About Me worksheets all filled in.
You’re starting a little later than most of your class, a perk of being one of the older ones of your year. It meant we got a bonus extra week together, a week to cram in as much of you as I could. We had fun didn’t we?
You’re so ready for the next step. You’ve been a little frustrated this week as you couldn’t understand why you had to wait. You’re so keen to get started. I hope this enthusiasm for school never leaves you.
Have I told you lately how proud I am of you? My tiny 5lb baby has grown up into the most wonderful little boy. You’re kind and thoughtful, inquisitive and enthusiastic. I know how eager you are to please people, to get things right, but please don’t let that hold you back from trying if you’re not 100% sure. It’s okay to make mistakes, to get it wrong.
Of course I worry too. I worry about your competitive nature, you won’t always be first. You will need to learn that. I worry about what you will have for lunch and I hope you always have someone to play with at break.
One part of me wants to hold you close and never let you go, to keep you with me as innocent as you are right now. But I know that can’t be. I know I need to let you go, just a little for now.
Tomorrow morning I will smile as I hand you over to the care of someone else. I’m sure there will be tears when I get back home and the house is so much quieter for you not being there. I’ll be wondering what you’re doing, and what you’re eating for lunch. Wondering who you’re playing with and what you’re learning.
I’ll be clock watching until I can come to meet you at your classroom door, eager to know all that you’ve been doing. There won’t be a nursery assistant running through your day, telling me what you’ve had to eat. I’m reliant on what snippets you choose to share.
Since G came along I’ve worried that I haven’t been able to give you the same undivided attention. I’ve sometimes been a bit too grumpy and haven’t always been able to play with you as much as I’d like. It’s been lovely to see you look to your Dad more, to see your bond with him grow even stronger but it was bittersweet. I missed being your go-to girl. But then yesterday, as we filled in your school introduction booklet, one of the questions was what makes you happy. You looked at me with your beautiful blue eyes and simply answered, “You”.
Tomorrow you start a new chapter that I can’t be a part of. I’ll be watching from a distance, waiting to hear all you choose to tell me. Ready to give you cuddles when you’re tired at end of the day, to wipe away tears if something makes you sad. To encourage you when you need your own personal cheering squad.
Good luck sweetheart. Be brave, be kind and remember to enjoy yourself and I’ll be there for you when it’s time to go home.
At the end of the day I will always be there.
I love you more than cups of tea (but you already know that, don’t you?)
Mummy
Aw Jo this made me cry, I was holding it together until the bit about him looking at you and saying you. Bless his heart. I remember being in this position so well last year and it is so emotional. No doubt there will be tears for you tomorrow. But we soon adapt especially when we realise how much they love it. Good luck to the both of you. xx
Oh good luck to both of you for tomorrow, it’s such a big milestone and even when you know that they’re ready, and even chomping at the bit to get going, it’s hard not to worry a bit. And even the strange feeling of the house being that bit quieter gets normal surprisingly quickly!
Carie @ Space for the Butterflies recently posted…Splish, Splosh, Splash
Such a lovely post and it brings back all the emotions from last year. It is such a transition and I cried buckets! I hope it goes well which I am sure it will. Tomorrow a new adventure begins X
Laura @ Little Ladies Big World recently posted…Bathtime Fun and Bedtime Battles {The Ordinary Moments #31}
Gorgeous post lovely. Good luck for tomorrow xx
Oh what a beautiful letter … I hope his enthusiasm lasts too! Love the signing off – that’s a lot of love! #MarvMondays
Ahhh such a lovely letter! I hope that he settles in really well đŸ™‚ #Marvmondays
Emma recently posted…Review of the King Street Townhouse Hotel, Manchester
It’s definitely one of the hardest things we have to go through as a parent – my youngest started last week and I just felt like a piece of me had gone! Such a lonely time without them, it makes the evenings and weekends much more special though. I hope he settles in well xx
A simply gorgeous post. I hope that your little one is settling in well. Alison x #MarvMondays
Oh bless I hope your little one enjoys their first day at school and keeps that enthusiasm!
RachelSwirl recently posted…#TuesdayTreasures 13/09/2016
This is so lovely Jo. Its so hard to let go sometimes isn’t it? I am sure he will have a wonderful time xx
This is a beautiful letter. I hope he’s loving it and settling in fine. We went through the same with Z last year, teaching him how it’s ok not to win everything and having the dynamic change a bit in our house. It does settle and the new normal is lovely too x
Notmyyearoff recently posted…Zouk Tea bar and Grill Cookery School
All these going to school posts are breaking my heart and I have another 2 years before my eldest starts yet. Gorgeous post. Thanks for linking up to #MarvMondays. xo