It happens every year about this time. The school year starts winding down & I start to get all sentimental about my kids, & I get sad to see yet another year of school behind them. Next year Madi will be in 7th grade - how can this be? I know that it was just a couple of years ago that I was driving her to Miss Marsha's Mini School - wasn't it? Then there's Katie. She will be a big 4th grader next year. I have to tell you, I remember 4th grade & 7th grade really well! I loved 4th grade - that was the year I won the talent show & my teacher, Mr. Hanchett, carried me around piggyback style to celebrate my victory. And that was the year he read us "Where the Red Fern Grows" & we cried as we heard the story of Old Dan & Little Ann. Of course, he also read us "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing." Who can forget Fudge? I wonder if Katie's teacher will read that book to her? Yes - I loved 4th grade - it was a magical time in my life.
7th grade was not so magical, yet still a milestone year as I learned what "big school" was all about. I had to learn about multiple teachers & multiple classrooms & one-way passing in the hallways amongst mean hall monitors. I had to learn about PE uniforms & having to take showers in the locker room (how silly is that?) As we headed to the showers, my PE teacher, Mrs. Goodwin, would say "underwear" (in what I thought was a very rude & obnoxious way) and make us slit our towel down the side to show that we weren't wearing any underwear (how much SILLIER is that???) The things we had to live through!
I know big changes are in store for Madi & Katie this coming school year, but even bigger changes are coming for my little "Lace". Lacey will be going to school all day in the fall. This is a big deal for the both of us. Over the past 4 years she & I have enjoyed time alone at home as her big sisters were off at school. She has been in school each morning for the past 2 years, but she & I have had our afternoons together. This past Thursday, as Lacey & I were hanging out at one of her favorite spots in the whole world, I found myself suddenly sentimental (I told you it happens to me every year!) We were having a happy time just being together & I thought to myself, "I want to remember this moment. I want to remember Lacey right now as a beautiful little 5 year old girl, happy as can be at Great Harvest, eating a free sample of apple crumble bread and sharing a rootbeer with her mom - one straw for her & one straw for me. Sometimes after I pick her up from school, we go to Great Harvest on our way home. I know it is one of her favorite places to go. She even learned how to say her "r's" correctly by repeatedly saying "Great Harvest" (instead of "Gweat Hawvest") very slowly. She was so proud when she pronounced the "r's" and they didn't sound like "w's". So Thursday afternoon was a happy time, & this sentimental mom had to fight back a little tear as I thought that we only have 2 more months of special alone time every day. That's when I realized that I needed to make sure to remember this ordinary day because, in the near future, it will not be so ordinary, as we will have less time together. I immediately thought, "I need to blog this little moment, & I need to take a picture - but I don't have my camera! Darn!" "Wait - I have my cell phone & it has a camera - perfect!" And so, this post was born along with this picture of my perfect little 5-year-old. Dear little girl - can't you please stay like this just a little longer?
8 comments:
classic photo of you. and so lucky to have cell phones with cameras!
I remember my oldest son being 2 and we used to tell him not to ever get any bigger...but it happens, and we hold those memories dear. He is MUCH bigger now, very tall, but still the fun loving guy that he was at 2.
I have never been to the Great Harvest - where is it? I do LOVE bread...maybe it will be a good place to take my boys for a 'date.'
I love that picture of you!! That is so LaRae. Your cell phone camera takes really good pictures. I love reading your posts because your warmth comes through, and I can tell how much you love your family. I, too, get sentimental, and wish sometimes I could turn back time, put Zac on my lap, wrap him in a blanket, and read him a story. I've tried, but he won't let me do it anymore.
Oh LaRae, 4th grade wasn't always good....remember the boy that kept dumping hay or grass or something on your head when we walked home from school...that was 4th grade wasn't it? I think that was the year we both could see each other through that teachers passage.....remember? I really liked that I could see my big sister....it was comforting. It is so hard to see our kids getting so big. At least Madi's seventh grade will be much better than our experiences with Mrs. Goodwin. I still can't figure out what her deal was with underwear!
Dawnae - I was in 3rd grade when Donald Newsom dumped hay on my head (I will forever remember his name) - & I was in 5th grade & you were in 3rd (remember Mr. Killian?) when we could see each other through the little tunnel that connected our classrooms. That was fun.
Love the picture of you :-)
I'm so glad you wrote about your time with Lacey. At times with our children it feels like everything will always be the way it is at that moment, but it always changes. It will be neat for both of you to read about your time together in the future. Yay for getting a picture, too. Lacey is so adorable.
I too have similar feeling this time of year. It seems every year seems to go faster and faster. The more kids I have had I realize how short their time at being little really is...
cute little Lacey!!!!!
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