I stood in my kitchen tonight, baking cupcakes for a small
celebration we are having at home tomorrow night, in honor of Emma’s graduation
from Pre-K at Bright Horizons/Georgia Power. As I mixed together the butter,
sugar, flour, vanilla and other ingredients, I thought back - a bit teary eyed - to almost 4 years ago (July 08) when I
tentatively dropped Emma off in the Mulberry Classroom with a bunch of “strangers”
to take care of her. She had spent the past 16 months of her life at home with
me while I worked a “Virtual Recruiter” position, allowing me to work from home
and keep her by my side. It was a strange feeling to leave her to the care of
others as I made my way to the office for the first time in over 2 years. As
the days went on, though, Emma thrived. She made friends, she engaged in
activities, she learned to drink from a cup, made milkshakes, colored pictures,
and the “seed” was planted for a lifelong desire to learn and grow. She learned
to sing songs, count to ten, recite the alphabet, etc, etc. And my fears of
leaving her with strangers went out the window. These “strangers” became like
family as I became involved in the center as a member of the parent partner committee.
Over the years, Emma did have some issues with drop off…separation, from me,
especially was always a little hard on her. But, admittedly, I always had a
hard time walking away without just “one more hug and kiss”!! As Emma
progressed through the center through the 2’s classroom, preschool and pre-k, I
couldn’t have been happier with my decision to go back to work and send her off
to “daycare”…or what we have called from the beginning, “school”! As a family,
it has been an invaluable experience and I couldn’t be prouder to be part of
the Bright Generations graduating class of 2012!!
Emma's very first day...
Graduation pic...
Oh My Goodness! I am so glad that we still have until August until Emma goes to Kindergarten! I am going to miss my Bright Horizons/Bright Generations family and the love and support they have given us over the years.
Oh wow! So Big and So little simultaneously. I totally get why people cry and big things like this. We are just SO proud. Of who they are, of our love, of who the will become. I am glad the experience has been a good one. Learning to let Kai be in what we also call "school" two days a week was very very challenging for me. I think it is important for both the child and the parent to be bonded in a way that allows independence. Hugs
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