THREE MORE DAYS.
Gah.
I am simultaneously so excited for my big girl, and also kind of freaking out. Mostly because I just want her to have a great experience in school each and every single day forever.
I know. Delusional much?
Anyway, Inara has been excited about starting school (partly because of our "School is GREAT and FUN and TOTALLY AWESOME" propaganda) - but I know that the whole concept is still pretty vague for her. This morning she asked if I could stay with her for "more than five minutes on my first day of school", so I know that it will be an adjustment for all of us (I told her that I would stay as long as she needed me to. To which she replied, "I think I will need you for more than five minutes, okay? Can you do that?").
Luckily she's going to a fantastic school with a fantastic program and teacher - who has already come to our house to visit with us (Can you say Above and Beyond? I love our school!!), and with whom I have already had many phone conversations. I bet that her poor teacher had NO idea that she'd be schooling not only Inara, but the whole George family as well! But she has been amazing so far, and it's done wonders for my comfort level - because let's face it, Inara going off to school has absolutely NOTHING to do with her, and absolutely everything to do with ME and how blubbery-faced Yousuf and I will be when we get there in THREE MORE DAYS.
Oh, and did I mention that Yousuf canceled his classes to come with us on Inara's first day? Yup. We're totally THOSE parents. The ones who bring their whole family and cameras and equipment and AV gear to school on the first day. Inara is going to LOVE us when she gets older.
But for now, we're just going to pretend that it's totally normal to show up like a big troupe of crazies out on a day pass to cheer for her on her first day. We're the ones that are going to be all, "Oh look! Inara put her bag away! YAAAAAY! Oh look! Inara said hello to another kid! CHEEEEER! Oh look! Inara went to the potty ALL BY HERSELF! SHOCK AND AWE!"
And hopefully by that time Inara will say that my five minutes are up. Or not. Honestly, if she does say that she wants me to go, I can't guarantee that I won't be slightly offended. Because again, I AM THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN HER UNIVERSE. Right? Right? Riiiiiiiight? She should at least give me a heads up before she goes and gets all Ms. Preschool Independent on me.
Sigh. It's all going by so fast....I feel like I barely have time to catch my breath.
Speaking of which, I don't honestly know how I'm going to keep blogging as often as I've been doing - I'm going to be taking Inara to school and volunteering in her class (I'm totally THAT MOM!!! That's me...Volunteery, Can't-Let-Go-Of-My-Baby ME!!) while Nissa naps and Yousuf is home with her. Which means that my normal blogging afternoons are very soon going to be a thing of the past. But I will still blog. I have to - I need to do it, otherwise I might go even more insane than I currently am. I'll just have to find some more hours in the day to keep writing. We'll figure it out - and I'm going to thank you in advance for putting up with my letting-go pains. Snifflesnifflesniffle...this poor mama is going to need some virtual hugs very soon!!
We went for test ride to school last week, just to get Inara used to the commute (it's a short bike ride away, I love that we're so close).We also wanted to take her to her new school to show her around without all the hustle and bustle of class being in full swing. And of course while we were there we dorked around and had to take pictures of us dorking around. Because that's what crazies do!! It's FUN and AWESOME and GREAT!
Inara looks so grown up in these shots, and I feel like I want to keep her just the way she is, for just a little bit longer. The pictures reminded me so much of all those old shots that our parents must have taken of us when we were little, so I had some fun with processing them retro-style. I feel like they turned out warm and sunny and sweet and idyllic..just like my sweet Inara.
My loveybear - may this year be one great big happy fun adventure for you. I love you and will always be right here for you, however you need me to be.
And I won't mind if you ask me to stay for five more minutes. I won't mind it at all.
And this me trying to show Inara how AWESOME! FUN! GREAT! School can be
(and getting a hernia while trying):
OH NO, SHE DI'INT!!!!
Oh yes, SHE DID. And she nearly broke her back...
And then almost split her pants.
This is how much I love you, friends. Enough for you to keep laughing at my sorry arse until I figure out this new blogging/schooling schedule.
I rock! Or something. Thanks for hanging in there with me, friends.