growing up is hard!

This is a picture of Aurora when she was 3 years old. Carefree, preschool days.

This morning we had our first episode about going to school.

In the recent past, we've had to listen to numerous rants about how much being 6 "sucks" because when you're 6 you have to listen to your parents. Grown-ups get to do WHATEVER they want (ie. stay up late, come and go as we please, eat what we want, wear what we want). WE WISH Aurora. We wish. We've tried to explain that she should enjoy being 6 for as long as it lasts -- that when you grow up you have responsibilities, and that though we get to decide much more for ourselves than she does, life in your 30's not as easy as it looks.

This morning when we asked her to get her uniform on, she FREAKED. Through her tears she told me about how she doesn't like putting her uniform on so early in the morning (she was in kindergarten in the afternoons last year). She misses playing so much since all she does at school is "homework" -- pages and pages of it, apparently. She cried that it "takes too long for the day to be over" and that she "doesn't like things changing".

I felt a little sad myself. I didn't want my little girl learning the lessons told to us in The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein at quite so young an age. I felt so much compassion for her. And I let her be sad. For a few minutes.

Life's lessons are hard. But today, instead of telling her about the not-so-great stuff about growing up, we got to share the the things that don't "suck" so badly. We told her we were proud of her accomplishment of managing such a long day at school, learning to read, and learning about how to be a good friend. We told her that there are changes at every step along the way and that though it is hard to change, change helps us grow -- inside and out. Being in grade 1 has great bonuses (ie special lunch days, going to mass -- tee hee, having your own desk, 3 whole recesses!)

We told her that sometimes we miss being little, but most of the time, we feel blessed to be where we are at.

We are so proud of our little/big girl.


Aurora on her first day of grade 1.