KINDERGARTEN

Ahh, yes. The time for tears has come. For me, that is. Isabella is fine. She's more than fine. She is ready for big girl school! I don't know what or how, but in the last two weeks, she has started reading and her drawings have become much more meaningful and detailed.

Is this what happens when a child is about to enter big school? It makes me so joyful for her and sad for me. IzzyB is definitely no longer a baby and I know that elementary school will only catapult her further into being a big kid. I know that iCarly and Hannah Montana loom in the distance. I've shielded her from all that crap as long as I could. However, now she will be in a school that varies in ages from 5 to 12. EEK!

Ava is super jealous. She has two more years of pre-k before she too heads to big school. The difference between a first born and a second is incredible. Ava is a very mature 3 1/2 year old. Anything Bella can do, she thinks she can do better. I'm not about to discourage her but good grief, she's my last baby and already she wants a school uniform and first reader books!

The girls have had a fantastic summer full of love, friendship, spit and fire. Sisterhood. Fortunately, they love each other FAR more than they dislike each other. There is a definite individualism sprouting with the two of them. Yes, they can play together for hours, but then there is Ava shutting us out of her room while she changes clothes. Or Bella, hiding keepsakes in special places in her room and requesting that NO ONE even bother to guess what or where.

Privacy.

Does it begin this early? Apparently so. We generally have a no shut door policy but if a girl wants to change into her princess pjs in private, I think she should have the right to do just that. Ava is almost embarrassed to ask me to wipe her behind for her, but thankfully she'd still rather do that than end up with skidmarks in her day of the week undies.

Bella regressed for a couple of weeks this summer. Pre-6 year old birthday. Maybe she too was realizing that she was beginning a new chapter in her life. For a while, she requested that we carry her, brush her teeth, give her our earlobe to rub (remember that from years past?).

Then she learned to swim. On her own. With nary a floatie within reach. Freedom. And she loved it. For two weeks, she learned how to take care of herself and I could see progress daily with her confidence and self-esteem. When the instructor said she was good enough to be on a swim team, Bella beamed up at him and then at me, her face full of pride and accomplishment.

My Kindergartener. Sure, she could've gone to K last year as a very young, immature 5 year old. But listening to that inner voice of parenting wisdom and the love of her pre-k teachers, we decided to wait until she was 6. And it is truly one of the best things we ever did for our formerly timid, insecure child.

Bella is ready. And so am I. Let the adventures begin!!