First Day of Kindergarten - A Poem

T’was the morning of Kindergarten, and all through the house

My dear daughter chatted excitedly, like a little mouse.

Her backpack prepared and zipped up with care,

In hopes that the school bus would soon be there.

Danae settled for breakfast, and while trying to eat,

Had visions of the playground and wondered, “Who will I meet?”

Her dad long gone to work and I, reliving the past,

Could not wrap my brain around how this happened so fast.

We always talked about school, how Kindergarten would be here,

How the bus would arrive and my girl would have no fear.

She’s as smart as they come and we always knew she’d excel;

Really, the hardest part is hugging her and saying “Farewell.”

It’s letting go of a piece of you, bidding babyhood adieu,

Trusting God to keep her safe and trying something new.

It’s praying for good friends and for Danae to be one, too,

Hoping she’ll remember that showing love is what we do.

So as we let go of the last bits of summer and send my little girl off to school,

I’m praying I remember my sunglasses and don’t look like a sobbing fool.

If I’m a mess then she will be, so I know I need to stay calm.

My goodness, if it’s like this for Kindergarten, what will I do for her Senior Prom?!

Oh how quickly they grow up

I feel like I need to make myself a t-shirt: “I survived Kindergarten Orientation…and I didn’t cry (in public)”

(I might need another one on the first day of school…that one will need to say “Please hug me.")

:o)

Yes, orientation went very, very well this past week. My little girl was excited from the moment she woke up, and we chatted happily all morning about what she’d get to do that day. She spoke with other kids, toured her classroom and tried out the playground (and shocked me when she called out “Hey Mom!” and went across the monkey bars BY HERSELF). The kindergartners then went on a bus ride with the teachers, leaving us parents behind to watch through the lobby windows, wonder how in the world the last 5 years went by so quickly, and tear up a bit without completely losing it in front of everyone else. (Hey, I KNOW I wasn’t the only one who was working hard to keep it together…I verified that feeling by asking the mom next to me. She confirmed.)

Don't get me wrong - I love that Danae is excited and ready for school. She might be a little worried the first morning, but I know she will do well and love it. The problem in all of this is me...my inability to "let go"...my distrust of complete strangers knowing how my daughter works and how to take care of her the way I do...my anxiety of Danae facing the "not-so-pleasant" moments with other nasty children.

I think it's also that I see my daughter getting on that bus and going to school as another milestone of her growing up and leaving babyhood behind. Not to be so pessimistic, but let's face it: when our kids go to school, they hear words they've never heard before, stories they should probably never hear, and bring that stuff home. Our job as parents - teaching our babes right from wrong and guiding them in the right direction - becomes increasingly difficult as they grow up. The challenge is here! :o)

So, for the next 9 days, I plan on hugging my girl, playing lots, and continually reminding her of who she is and how to be a loving friend. Then, I'll give her a big hug, put her on the school bus for the first time, and just pray that she's safe and she remembers how to love as Jesus loves. That's pretty much all that we can do as parents...that and go home and have a good cry over a cup of coffee. ;o)

Our Fruit Trees

This week we shared the first peach from the fruit trees we planted last fall, in memory of Josiah.






As we would call them, Josiah's Trees.






:o)

Happy 3rd to my boy!

Today we are celebrating the 3rd birthday of my little man, Caedon!





My creative, fun-loving, imaginative, "My-Daddy's-my-hero" little boy! He's my snuggler, yet he can turn into a rough-and-tumble, typical teasing little brother at the drop of a hat. So much like his Daddy in so many ways...





He's the ruler-breaker...probably the one who will see how far he can get away with things and how creative he can be at making things go his way. He's the charmer who can flash his dimpled grin and melt me almost instantaneously. And he still doesn't sit still for pictures long enough for me to get him smiling at the camera. :) But I'll take his boyish charm any day over a perfectly set picture!


So Happy 3rd Birthday, big boy! You are loved OH so much by so many!

18 months

Just a few days ago Danae asked me if Josiah would be walking and running around if he were here with us today. She said, "I think he would be running all around here, taking Caedon's toys. And I think Caedon would be getting mad and pushing him down."



A year and a half has passed, and we all still think of our Josiah very often. My earthly babes refer to him as their brother...when asked how many people are in her family, Danae usually says 5...here and there, Caedon asks for Josiah and when he will get to see him.



Just a few weeks ago, a wonderful friend recently gave me an article written by Sarah and Steve Berger, whose son Josiah (how fitting) died in a car accident at the age of 19. Sarah wrote the following:

"It amazed me that the word absent means 'to immigrate,' and the word present means 'to be in your home country.' Josiah truly has immigrated to his new home country. Because we fully believe that Josiah is alive and present with the Lord, the words 'loss,' 'lost,' and 'death' aren't words we use around our house. We haven't lost anything, and nobody is dead. We know exactly where our son is, and he is very alive....What powerful truth in times of grief and sorrow: Our loved ones are alive, and they are home with the Lord."

Yes, this is the truth we know deep down. While it doesn't completely take away the sadness or the thoughts of how our boys would probably be wrestling, fighting, lining up cars together, and vying for their Daddy-O's attention, or how Danae would be making her little brothers play house and shoving them into her dress-up dresses...while knowing the truth doesn't mean our hearts are completely fixed and healed, it definitely soothes the soul to have gentle reminders that our youngest is alive, not lost, and one day we will be reunited.


:)

I'm a Brooklynite at heart

Every time we go to the city of my birth, my heart skips a beat and my driving seems to get a little more offensive than it normally is. ;o) Could it be the bridges? Or the sites to take in? Maybe reminiscing on Grandma Markey's apartment and going there as a child when Dad still worked in the city? Ahh, memories!



This past weekend proved no different. We celebrated my cousin's wedding on Friday night, in the record 107° heat. In a church without the A/C turned on. Yeah, you read that one right...imagine sweat dripping from places you didn't know it could drip from, big fans to circulate the hot air, and men with handkerchiefs glued to their foreheads...and everyone in tuxes/suits or nice dresses. And it was all totally worth it to see Keith and Brianne get married!

The gorgeous couple!

My dad, my uncle (dad's only brother), and my mama

The wedding was followed by a reception at one of the most awesome reception locations I think we have ever been to. Giando on the Water, literally right on the water between the Williamsburg Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge, with the Brooklyn Bridge and Empire State Building all within site. Seriously, coolest location EVER. Plus, it was in the neighborhood where my Mama grew up, so it was even more meaningful.




Good food, great times with family that we, unfortunately, don't get to see much...and dancing, dancing, dancing! Hubby isn't much of a dancer, but he knew my inner need to be on the dance floor and ended up wanting to be out there more than I did! (He didn't have on shoes that made his pinky toe feel like it was going to explode.)

The Markey clan!

We also got to party with John Stamos...Uncle Jesse! :o) (Okay, okay...if it wasn't him, it was definitely his doppelganger!)






We stayed in the city that night and spent Saturday exploring Manhattan: Times Square, most of the neighborhoods, lots of stores (not a lot of buying), and all of Central Park. No, really...we walked and ran some of the park, then biked the entire park. So fun, despite the heat!














Hot, sweaty, but definitely tons of fun and much needed! Brooklyn family, we NEED another get-together soon!

The littlest mohawk

There once was this adorable, almost-three-year-old, rough-and-tumble little boy...





...who loves his bear blankie, stuffed dinosaur, and any animal toy...




...who actually got tired of the itchiness of having longer hair and the shampooing that his mama required so she could get him smelling good...




...who sat still just long enough for his mama to cut his hair and give him a mohawk.


Now his big sister is asking if girls can have mohawks, too.


:)