Tonight is the eve of my ‘baby’ daughter starting kindergarten. It is exciting to think about her starting school, but at the same time I am sad too. This is my little baby girl we are talking about. My last child who will enter kindergarten. This process was sad enough for my oldest, I fear the flood of tears that will flow as I drop her off tomorrow at her new school in her new kindergarten class.

As I reflect on the last 4 years and 11 months, I recall so many moments. The day she was born, her first bath, her first step, her first word (pink), the first time she dressed herself, her first pair of hiking shoes and the first time I saw her write her name. I have spent all this time teaching and preparing her for this moment of entering school, so why am I so sad?

For me, the sadness is knowing that I will never get this chance again. To see my child embark on an opportunity for learning and change. Maybe I am making too much of this, I mean it is only kindergarten after all (she isn’t going to Stanford or Harvard or something). Oddly I am not worried about her. She will do fine making new friends and adjusting to her new school, but it is me who is the one who is having trouble adjusting. I have to adjust to the idea that I have no more children in day care (which is literally a bonus because of the reduction in expense). Yet even the savings in expense is not cushioning this change. I definitely plan to savor tomorrow with photos and memories of this special day, if only my daughter knew how important this was – to me.