Not Ready For This School Year

It's the cliche statement we hear every year. Summer went by too fast. Whitehall School starts today and summer is over.

I've always enjoyed the start of a new school year. My son gets a haircut, he dresses up in his new school clothes, and school spirit is at its highest - at least for the first few days. But this year, I can't. I'm not ready.

I blinked and I missed it. This year my son is a senior. What happened? This past Sunday I took him to have his senior photo consultation. He expressed what he wanted, and what he didn't, came up with great ideas, and spoke eloquently. Where did my kindergartener go?

He excused himself to use the restroom and in the meantime, I bawled like a baby. The photographer laughed because he has seen this all before, but my heart was breaking.

Over the summer my goofy little boy turned into a responsible young man. Almost every day this summer he worked at the pool lifeguarding - not once did I have to remind him of his work schedule, wake him up, or rush to get him to work on time because he forgot. Where did my kindergartener go?

I don't know yet what his journey holds, but his senior year is started and I know he is excited about the future. I'm just not ready.