“This is launch operations manager. The launch team wishes you good luck and godspeed.” That little blue dot on her shirt front is bobbing up and down. She can’t sit still. We’re approaching the car line. “Does the strap feel okay on your backpack? Have you got your…” The tears well up in my eyes not hers, and I have to catch my breath. She looks so tiny in her new school clothes, her Little Mermaid backpack strapped on tight. Our last few minutes before our firstborn starts kindergarten are flying by. Life is changing forever.
“We’ll be coming up on the automatic sequence in about 10-15 seconds from this time.” “We’re coming up on the car line,” Kent says from the driver’s seat of the van. He looks back and gives her a smile, then slows to a stop as the crossing guard motions us into line.
“We know it will be a good flight.” “You’ll have so much fun!” He says and reaches back and gives her a high five and winks at her.
“We are on automatic sequence.” Look at her. She’s grown so much these last few months. Does time speed up when they turn five? Did we make the right choice about preschool? Is she ready for this? She knows her colors and numbers and letters, even what sound they make. I know she’s ready for school. She looks so excited. I’m so glad we took time to have lots of family moments this last summer before our firstborn starts kindergarten.
“Astronauts report it feels good. T minus 25 seconds.” “I see the blue pod!” She looks at me and smiles big, wiggling to get out of her seatbelt. It’s the second year of Auburn Early Education Center’s existence, the first city-wide kindergarten in Auburn City Schools. She’s assigned to the Blue Pod, hence the blue dot on her shirt. She’s already been to open house, met her teacher, and knows what to do. Parents are advised to “Drop them off at the door and the teachers will direct them to their classrooms.” That way, tearful goodbyes will hopefully be avoided and they’ll get an exciting welcome from the time they set foot on the front sidewalk.
“T minus 15 seconds. Guidance is internal.” Well, here it comes. I can see the smiling teacher’s aides and helpers in the AEEC tee shirts waving. The moment of launch is approaching. I can’t believe it. Our firstborn starts kindergarten today. We’ve done everything we know to prepare her, now the moment’s here.
10
Auburn City Library knows us by name. We’ve been at story time, special events, and checking out ten books a week since even before she was old enough to have a library card. In fact, she cried because they wouldn’t let her have one until she was three years old and even though she could use mine, she wanted her own. Reading has always been a given at our house.
9
“Ignition sequence start.”
With teachers on both sides of the family, initially there was pressure to push her to read. I had to get mama bear on that one. We read to her all the time and often incorporated things like “a is for apple. A sounds like…” but when the pressure from extended family ramped up, she started to push back and I wanted her to love reading so I put my foot down. “Don’t push her. She’ll read when she’s ready.” They got over it, sort of, and she actually did start reading early on her own.
8
Lots of home time fills our days. We play in the back yard, turn on the sprinkler, eat popsicles and lie on our backs looking up at the cloud shapes. Unstructured time is our norm. I don’t want our whole world to always be scheduled. We’ve had picnics, fed the ducks in the park, gone on walks, and played in the rain.
7
We’ve visited extended family. They are just as excited as us at this new milestone and she needs to share it with them as well. We’ve spent some time with the grandparents, making sure to include them in the excitement.
6
We’ve worked our way up to the school time schedule. Several weeks before school started we began to gradually work bedtime and wake-up time to what it would need to be for a school day. This has included the siblings. Their schedule will be different as well and it’s made for a smooth transition to get the whole family on the new schedule. From birth, the firstborn’s needed at least an hour before she’s ready to interact with anyone in the morning, so we put an extra hour in her morning school routine. Sounded awful to those who didn’t know why we get her up so early, but it’s insured she’s a happy camper by school time.
5
Chores for school mornings for our new student are simple-make your bed and brush your teeth. Straightening up her room is part of finishing play for the day before, so in the morning the room is already clean.
4
We pick out an outfit the night before and she gets to help make the wardrobe choices as part of the process.
3
Breakfast is simple, something nutritious that she likes in order to optimize a good start to the day.
2
Lots of hugs and one-on-one time with Mom and Dad. We’ve made sure she gets lots of extra “dates” with mom and dad. After school starts, I plan to kidnap her one day a week for a “coke date” and continue the tradition with the middle one and the youngest when they start school.
1
I’m going to miss her so much during the day, and I’ve told her that, but I’m going to try really hard to make sure I don’t “helicopter.” Letting go of those precious babies is part of parenting them to success. Our parenting style is to do our best to get them ready, then “step back and watch them go,” letting them make some mistakes while we’re here to help them figure it out and learn how to do better.
0
I give her a big hug, kisses in both hands (for later), and look into her eyes. “We love you Sweetheart. You are ready for this. You are going to have so much fun.” Her face is a mixture of uncertainty and nervousness and then, she looks out the window, sees the smiling faces, the colorful school, and I watch as her confidence takes over. “Lord, we’ve taught her to be kind, to be obedient, to be excited to learn, and to trust You. This is her first big step out into the world. Today our firstborn starts kindergarten. She’s ready. Help us to be the same.”
“All engines running. We have liftoff! Liftoff!”
The van door opens. She jumps out, grabs the hand of the helper and takes off, without even looking back.
“Tower clear.”
Spread your wings and fly, Kiddo. You’re gonna do great things!
Good luck and Godspeed!
Script from: BBC America, Apollo 11 Launch Countdown, Moon Landing Live, July 20, 2019
