Movin’ On Up
Yesterday Caitlin moved to the 4-year-olds’ classroom at daycare. Although she knows the teacher very well and sees the 4-year-olds on the playground (the 3s and 4s wreak havoc on the same turf), she was super clingy and seemed upset to not go to “her classroom.” She told me several times last night that she didn’t want to “be big.” Her new teacher was wonderful, though, and we took a tour of her new classroom and I got to see the all-important cubby for her artwork. I stayed a few minutes longer than usual yesterday, and when I left the teacher was stroking Caitlin’s hair and talking to her. Although Caitlin won’t be 4 until June they had an opening in the pre-K classroom and her teachers and the director felt she was definitely ready to be with the older kids as she was getting bored with some of the activities and she is soaking up Spanish like a sponge (Dora has some redeeming educational value!) Originally she was supposed to make the move in August, so when I found out last week that she’d be moving up I felt a rush of mixed emotions. This is Caitlin’s last daycare classroom before the big move to kindergarten in a a little over a year. Between that and her upcoming birthday and Amelia finally taking some record-breaking unassisted steps, I’ve been a little emotional to the point of crying over the silliest things. Really, if I’m crying over Caitlin moving up at daycare, what am I going to be like when she starts “real” school…when she goes off to college…when she gets married? I think that’s one of the toughest things about parenting. Learning to let your children grow and learning to let them go. I guess I need to find a good, reliable waterproof mascara.
