New Beginning

Every day is a new beginning. Take a deep breath, and start again.

Yesterday our eight-year-old son started a new school. A mid-year school change was never something we had planned on but it was the right choice so one door closed and another opened.

I probably slept no more than 3 hours the night before…. worried about all the ‘what if’s’. Worried about him being the new kid in a class of children that had already been together for many months. Would he like it? Would the other children like him? My mind never stopped spinning.

He woke up in the morning and instead of his usual fare of Lucky Charms and yogurt, he asked for scrambled eggs. He combed his own hair, sharpened a few pencils, and put on his new school uniform without being asked to.  The drive to school was too quiet. My husband and I looked at each other nervously interpreting this as a bad sign.

As we pulled up to the school, sweet memories flooded through me in waves. Our two older children had attended this same school many years ago and it was a place we had dearly loved. As we all exited the car together, Ajay looked at us like we had three heads, “Why’d you guys  get out of the car?” he asked. When I said that we were going to walk him to the front doors he smiled but said quite decidedly, “I know where the doors are.’

Without waiting for a reply he turned around and slung his backpack high onto his shoulders and was gone. Within 30 seconds he had disappeared though the double doors.

My husband and I looked at one another a bit bewildered. He was gone. I guess you’re never really ready.

He is only eight, so of course we still have lots of time… but on that short 4 mile drive from our house to his new school… he took a deep breath- and began again.

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