One more month

The countdown is nearing the end. One more month until school starts and this year that actually means something to us.  It actually means a lot. Rather than simply watching other families wind down their summers, we will close down our carefree days as well.
In the final hours of the day when Walter and I sit outside watching the fireflies and waiting for stars to come out, we regularly bring up the subject of our boy heading off to Kindergarten.  I have no reservations about how much Asher will love it.  But I'm not sure I will be ready.

Asher can hardly wait to learn more about reading, be around friends all day long, make cute crafts, and run around in the gym. The knights welcoming students at the front entrance to the school were enough to make him want to spend more time there. But then we visited the ginormous playground a few weeks ago and that threw him over the top of wanting to spend more time at the school.

When Walter and I discuss this whole going to school thing, all I can focus on is the trajectory Asher is officially starting to be launched out into the world. Kindergarten leads to all the excitement of learning about this great big world but the great big world isn't always so great and bigness can be quite scary sometimes.

I don't want to watch him hurt when bullies make him not want to get up in the morning. I hate the thought of my boy dreading going to school because someone told him he really can't be a knight when he grows up or that the Backyardigans aren't cool for a five year old to watch.

On these nights when cicadas sing their songs I try to remember the fun he'll have. Learning how to read full books on his own is going to be such a great discovery. Meeting friends and teachers he'll remember all of his life could fill him with new fun and purpose.

He will adjust fine. I guess it's me who needs to figure out what to do without my Asher around all day.

One more month.