SCHOOL

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old

he will not depart from it" Proverbs 22:6

I don't even know how to type the emotional week I've experienced. From sheer excitement to down right in the dumps sadness....tears turning on and off like a faucet. It's "just" kindergarten for some of you reading this but for a parent this is the beginning of "letting them go"....giving them wings to fly.Emery's been "out of sorts" ALL week....and I say that ever so gently! She is fine just her and I (and I must say that it was nice to be off all week except a short class Friday) but let her sister walk through the front door at 3:30 and it's another child

raging out in my otherwise sweet huggy, kissy, lovey, cuddly Emery Grae.

Kayden is excited beyond measure to be in school!! I'm sad.....don't get me wrong though. I prayed almost every morning and evening with her this past week that I was SO very thankful

that she could attend a Christian school where she would learn about

Jesus and be able LOVE Him freely....something I need to remind myself NOT to take for granted.
Her daddy was excited for her, but we cried together

in the kitchen Sunday night at the thought of her starting school

(while she decided she wanted to bathe ALL alone because tomorrow she was BIG)!! We hugged each other for comfort......5 years had impossibly VANISHED before our very eyes.Not a one bit of fear as she practically ran down the hall towards "her" room
The sadness set in again as we hit the door....there was her name...we had to let her start!
There is sooo much to be learned in the coming years by this THIRSTY for knowledge little 5 1/2 year old.....I wish I could watch it all.....oh to be an "a" or "b" or "c" on the wall.
She has a wonderful teacher and we know she is going to be taken care of and taught well
She was confident, happy, comfortable, BEAUTIFUL, fearless....did not seem to care that her daddy, mommy, and sissy were about to walk out the

door and not be back for 7 FULL HOURS!!!
3 or 4 minutes before we left she, without warning wanted me to hold her.....I LOVED IT and relished in the tight squeeze!!! "When are you coming to get me mommy??.....but you're not gonna be close like when I'm at E-kids (the learning center she's attended since she was a baby) and you're across the street at work??" My heart was breaking more, I didn't want to leave her even MORE now. But I was happy she was, in her little way, letting me know she still "needed me". I easily reassured her that Emery and I would just be a few miles away at home and I would be back promptly at 3:00 (or 2:40!!!) to get her.

The last bell rang and we HAD to leave. Ms Benge sent us with this little Ziploc...filled with 2 verses, Kleenex, tea, a hug & kiss! MUCH NEEDED!

It will get easier, I know. But I was once again reminded, in another way, how precious time is. I don't have regrets about how we've spent the last 5 years....we've filled them up with lots of great memories and this ISN'T the end. It's a new beginning for her. I just want to protect her....I want to always know she's happy and safe!!