The Lasts

This has been a pretty emotional two weeks. There’s been all sorts of drama as far as which schools Gabe will go to, drama about getting Bella into her classes, Josy has decided that he’s going to potty train (which I’m definitely not ready for!!) and I’m trying to deal with the fact that my baby is going to kindergarten. But as he gets ready to start a new chapter, he’s closing up another one and I’m not sure if it’s harder on me that he’s going to kindergarten or that he’s leaving preschool.

For five years, I’ve brought him to work with me every day. We’ve had fun conversations in the car and chased garbage trucks and picked up leaves. Sometimes he’d come hang out in my office for awhile and steal my snacks and color pictures. And often we’d walk through the capitol building. We’d look at the pictures and admire the busts and slide on the banister and talk to everyone. He’d take over elevator button pushing duties for everyone who walked in, even when he could hardly reach button number 5, which is where most people wanted to go. Then he’d insist that we walk on our train tracks along the carpet, which would usually result in us colliding at the end.

We’ve done this for five years. How has it possibly been that long?

Last week, it was it last day to walk through the building, since my parking situation was changing. So we walked through the building and took lots of pictures and I tried not to cry.

Then, because life is funny like that, I ended up walking through the building for more times with him, since Gabe kept asking and I was having trouble saying no with my current stop-growing-up headspace. I just made them walk all the way from my new parking spot and neither of them minded at all.

But today really was the last time because today is his last day of preschool. Tonight is his graduation and he’ll start school on Monday.

Somehow this little baby of mine, that was so very tiny when he started school, is now a big kindergartener and I can’t even handle it. And I have no idea what I’m going to do when I drop him off at kindergarten, rather than bringing him all the way to school with me. It’s probably a good thing that Pat is going to start picking up Josy, because I’m not sure that my heart could handle only picking up one boy.

Then in the car on the way to school this morning, Gabe started singing Old McDonald, which happens to be one of the songs he used to make me sing every single time he got into the car when he was about Josy’s age.

Seriously kid. Stop doing this to your mama’s heart!!