Reasons I am Ready (And Not Ready) for School

This piece was originally published on my website. Now, it is here for your enjoyment.

School is almost here. My older son will start Kindergarten next week. My younger one will start pre-school in a few weeks. This is a big time for both of my boys, though neither of them is really looking forward to it!

As an overwhelmed mom, I am dreading this. That being said, I am also more than ready to send my boys out into the world.

Here is why I am ready for my boys to go to school.

• I will finally have some time with just Evan and me. He really likes to talk and interact when it is just him. He has never gotten much time alone with me.
• Evan wants to learn, so I just might be able to work with him on his alphabet, colors, etc. Hopefully, he will be more prepared when his school starts in a few weeks.
• Once Evan starts school (in October), I will have several hours a week without children. Though I should spend a little time doing things that I love, I will probably use this time to get caught up on my writing. Can you even imagine uninterrupted writing time? I'm so ready to focus on my work!
• I hope that school will be good for Cody. He is just so shy, compared to other kids his own age. These kids just seem to thrive in school, and I hope that the same goes for Cody. He deserves it.
• I hope that Cody finds someone who can help him learn. I know that I can’t teach him (I have tried and tried) and I just hope that he really starts to learn in Kindergarten.

Here are some reasons I am dreading it.

• I worry that Cody is not ready. Actually, I know that he is not ready academically, but I also don’t know how he is going to sit still ALL day long!
• It means that my baby boy is growing up. What mom is truly ready to let her children go in the world?
• I won’t have as much time with Cody anymore. He will be busy all day every day. Evenings will be running around outside to catch up on the fact that he will be inside all day long. We will still have weekends, but I am sure that they will go by WAY too fast. I might actually turn into one of those parents who want snow days!
• I worry that I haven’t spent as much time with him as I should have. It seems like I couldn’t wait for him to grow up and play on his own, so I leave him to his own devices as often as possible. He is outside running around and exploring all day long. He thrives on time outside by himself.
• I haven’t spent much one on one time with him. He has had a little brother since he was one year old. When will I get time with him? I just wish I had some more time to spend with just him.
• Many questions run through my head. Have I held him enough? Does he know how much I really do love him? Is he going to thrive in school?

I can’t change the fact that school is coming, and my sons are growing up. I just hope for a smooth transition for all of us. I’ll post an update in a few weeks to let you know how he is doing! Wish all of us luck. We are going to need it.