Easton, my big boy,
We’ve been counting down the days of summer and it’s here at last: your first day of first grade.
Kindergarten is a distant memory now and feels like it was just the warm-up. First grade is the real deal: You’ll be there all day. You’ll eat lunch in the cafeteria and run wild on the playground, finally finding out why recess is every kid’s favorite subject.
Last year on the eve of your first day, I was a tearful, anxious mess. A kindergarten mom, afraid to send her baby out into the world.
This year, there’s no tears. There’s no anxiety. I’m a first grade mom and my first grader is fairly bursting with excitement to get back into the classroom and pick up where he left off with his buddies.
You told me yourself: “Last year I cried in line, Mom. I’m not going to cry this year. I’m ready for this.”
Kiddo, you are more than ready for this. You are made for this.
Over the past year, I’ve watched you blossom. You found your footing in a new environment and little by little spread your wings. It took some time but there it was. Then, suddenly overnight, you were brave. There was no more testing the waters — there were just full-on cannonballs off the diving board into the deep end. Literally.
The difference a year makes is vast. You stand taller … at least a head taller and two shoe sizes larger. You make eye contact and answer questions when spoken to. You go out of your way to make friends with strangers on the playground so you don’t have to play by yourself. You stand your ground when challenged and you’re willing to fight for what you think is right or just. You ask deep, thoughtful questions and really listen to the answers. You finally try new foods and try new things and you’re open to new possibility in a way that you weren’t last year. The uncertain kindergartner you started as just twelve months ago is a mere shadow of the confident, engaged kid you are today.
In some ways, half-day kindergarten might have been more of a challenge than full-day first grade will be. Your first experience at school last year — “real school” — was all work and no play. And you worked hard. There just wasn’t time for forming friendships, because friendships happen at the lunch table and on the blacktop, chasing each other across the bouncing bridges and down the slide.
There’s no doubt in my mind that you will excel academically in first grade, just as you excelled in kindergarten. Your reading will continue to flourish, and your math skills will probably surpass mine sooner rather than later.
My wish for you this year, though, is not about academic progress. It’s about social-emotional growth. I hope you come to love first grade and everything that comes with it. To see school for all the fun and possibility that it can be, rather than a chore to rush through and move on to the next thing. There’s more to primary education than finishing your homework in the least amount of time possible so you can draw a zombie army on the back page. There’s friendship and exploration and imagination and new experiences.
I have a feeling first grade is going to be a game-changer, and I can’t wait to watch proudly from the blacktop. Keep reading, keep asking questions, and keep allowing yourself to be open to all that comes next. There are so many great things ahead of you.
All my love,
Your (still sentimental) mom
P.S. Please, please don’t throw away everything healthy in the lunch I carefully pack you with love just because there’s no one to tell you not to. You’re going to be learning and playing all day long now — you need more than Doritos and an Oreo to sustain you.
