Bittersweet Transition

Today marked Valerie's first day at her new school. Many at-home parents happily anticipate "back-to-school" so they can celebrate a few hours of freedom each day. Parents can visit the grocery store without finding mysterious cookies in the shopping basket or debating over which cereal to purchase with their little youngsters. I, too, can admit that accomplishing such daily tasks without the company of my oldest child will make my day run a little more smoothly.

However, I cannot help but feel a little melancholy about my big girl going to school all day. While we filled our summer days with a variety of fun activities, there were so many more things we could have done this summer (not that they would have fit into our schedule).

As part of this morning's rush, I documented my big girl's big day with a photograph:



You can see below, Valerie's transition to school was pretty tough:



I feel better that she was busy and happy when I departed instead of her sobbing and me being forced to leave.

In my spare moments, I work on the list of activities for next summer.