Once a week, Lily goes to the allergist's office to get "build up shots," one in each arm. The shots are small doses of the things she's reactive to, allergic, in hopes that she will build a tolerance. She's doing great, we've learned to live with and appreciate the value of those small doses.
I'd never heard of staggered entry until I moved to NC. Here, kindergartners go only one day of the first week of school. They're introduced to the teachers, the school, the lunchroom, and given general assessments before being divided into classes.
I see staggered entry as my small dose. My build up. My opportunity to develop a tolerance for something I have a strong reaction to: my baby growing up. I'm allergic: a saline solution oozes from my eyes and I toss and turn at night. I'll admit that this year has been better than last. Last summer I began fretting about Lily starting kindergarten the day she finished preschool. This summer, more often than not, I've felt very excited for Luke. Excited he's going to get to ride the bus with the big kids. Excited he'll have opportunities to blossom without me or Lily right on top of him. Excited he'll get to play with boys his own age and do rowdy, smelly boy things. But let's not get too carried away with the excitment. This is my last baby, and he's entering school. School, an entity with enough influence to rival my own, and one day, it's influence will surpass my own.
So back to small doses. Thank you Lord for small doses. Build up #1: Lily started first grade today. Build up #2: Drop Luke off on his staggered entry day (tomorrow morning). Build up #3: Luke spends almost a full day at school and rides bus home. Build up #4: Luke spends rest of week home (allowing me to better adjust to getting up at 6 a.m. without tossing and turning at night thinking about kindergarten). Build up #5: Long weekend to recover. Build up #6: Next Tuesday, Luke's official first day of school, but Lily's second week so she'll be pro. Final test: Getting both kids to "big school" and coming home to an empty house.
I'd never heard of staggered entry until I moved to NC. Here, kindergartners go only one day of the first week of school. They're introduced to the teachers, the school, the lunchroom, and given general assessments before being divided into classes.
I see staggered entry as my small dose. My build up. My opportunity to develop a tolerance for something I have a strong reaction to: my baby growing up. I'm allergic: a saline solution oozes from my eyes and I toss and turn at night. I'll admit that this year has been better than last. Last summer I began fretting about Lily starting kindergarten the day she finished preschool. This summer, more often than not, I've felt very excited for Luke. Excited he's going to get to ride the bus with the big kids. Excited he'll have opportunities to blossom without me or Lily right on top of him. Excited he'll get to play with boys his own age and do rowdy, smelly boy things. But let's not get too carried away with the excitment. This is my last baby, and he's entering school. School, an entity with enough influence to rival my own, and one day, it's influence will surpass my own.
So back to small doses. Thank you Lord for small doses. Build up #1: Lily started first grade today. Build up #2: Drop Luke off on his staggered entry day (tomorrow morning). Build up #3: Luke spends almost a full day at school and rides bus home. Build up #4: Luke spends rest of week home (allowing me to better adjust to getting up at 6 a.m. without tossing and turning at night thinking about kindergarten). Build up #5: Long weekend to recover. Build up #6: Next Tuesday, Luke's official first day of school, but Lily's second week so she'll be pro. Final test: Getting both kids to "big school" and coming home to an empty house.
-
|
0 Response to "Small Doses"
Post a Comment