He led the way
And wherever he goes, you follow.
You joined the line behind him on his first day,
(Indignant when we gently told you no, you couldn’t go.
Don’t be in a rush, your time will come,
and soon enough).
And when I let go of his hand,
I still had yours to hold,
My littlest.
You filled the house with noise and colour and song.
But, as I knew it would, the time has flown.
The days and weeks became months and years
Until here we are again, three years on.
It is now your turn to join that line
(and my smile is full of tears).
I’ll watch you skip along in shiny shoes
Towards the beginning of it all
Whilst the preschool door closes quietly behind.
Thinking, like every parent, how fast you’ve grown,
And it is but a moment that you are small.
These milestones are so bittersweet:
Your heart so full of joy but aching for what has gone,
For how it all must change.
Letting go the first time was hard,
It feels so much harder without a small hand in mine.
The quietness of home will feel so strange
But I’ll get used to it in time,
As is the way with each new stage.
It’s a new chapter in our story,
And now it’s time to turn the page.
Starting School
