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I have three children.
My daughter is turning 18, my older son is 15 and my younger son
is 6. I remember, as if it was yesterday, when my
daughter was born. I remember the potty training,
the thumb sucking, the learning to read. I sweated
all these out with the enthusiasm of a first time mother.
When my daughter, Bevin, was not quite 5, I was sure that she
was ready for Kindergarten. She was bright. She was
verbal. I was ready to send her into the world! At
the time, however, her Preschool teacher told me to relax.
She said that Bevin was bright, but shy. She said, "Give
her time now. You will thank me when she gets to high
school."
Bevin
is now filling out college applications. Soon she will be
out on her own and I will miss her. Even thinking about it
brings tears to my eyes. Her Preschool teacher was right.
Had I acted on my impulse to push her ahead, Bevin would be gone
already. Not only that, she would have been with other
teenagers a full year older than she, along the way...teenagers
who may have been smoking or drinking or driving under the
influence.
The
journey goes so quickly. Preschool years sometimes seem to
crawl by. I know that as the parents of preschoolers you
may think that this time will last forever. But once your
children enter school full time - the journey becomes a race,
and you turn around and they are gone...Luckily, my 6 year old
has had the benefit of having older siblings. I do not
sweat the small stuff. My six year old is still in
pull-ups at night. He will not have them when he graduates
from high school.
Kindergarten is a tremendous milestone. Children reach it
and then grow past it. If I had one pearl of wisdom to
pass along to you, I would say - "Relax! Give
your children time now. You will thank me when they get to
high school."
Addendum: I was going through my files and found this
letter. It is truer now than it was even then. More
and more is expected of 5 year old children. They have
even less time for childhood.
My
children are now 25, 23 and 14! I don't know where the
time goes, but it certainly does fly by. The next child I
will have to reflect upon will be my granddaughter who is
expected to arrive in this world in July! So -
relax - and enjoy your children. Sooner than
you can believe, they will be having children of their own!
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