My five-year-old daughter begins kindergarten this month. This means my cautious, anxiety-prone, oldest child starts a new adventure in a new school building with new friends and a new teacher. For the first time, she’ll be away from her little sister and away from me for six hours a day, five days a week.
She has become increasingly clingy since preschool let out for the summer, but it’s hard to say which one of us is more nervous about this transition. Like her, my cautious, anxiety-prone firstborn self has some concerns. Will she like her teacher? Will she make friends who are kind? Will she have enough time to eat lunch and play on the playground each day? Will she be safe but also have fun?
It’s a good school—a highly rated school in a nice, suburban neighborhood. Yet when I picture my easily frazzled, perfectionist firstborn daughter navigating a brand-new experience, my mothering instincts kick into overdrive, and my emotions sometimes override my logic.
This is a new stage of motherhood, a new stage of independence for her and for me, and, yes, I know it’s only the beginning.
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