My dd is due to start school in Sept, today we went for just half and hour of her meeting her teacher again and playing with the other kids, when it came to drop her off she was really clinging to me and started to cry, which of course nearly set me off, we went into the play ground for her to go play with all the other kids whilst her teacher took her off me and I went back into the class room, I had to stop myself from crying, I spoke with the class room assistant and again couldnt help myself! I felt such a twat, and very embarrassed. Ã'm soo not looking forward till Sept as I know I'll be a right mess!

Rach

Don't be embarrased. This happens to all moms I think. It does get a little easier the more kids you have though. It's alright to cry just wait untill the kids can't see.

Maybe because I was the oldest of six kids and I was around kids all the time, but I've never cried because my "baby" was "growing up". I'm excited to see them enter a new phase of their life! They are excited about being a Big Kid and going to school and I'm excited with them! Enjoy each and every phase of your child's life .... don't look at it with feelings of dread and anguish of "times gone by and lost". Look at it as a new door opening with new experiences for you to share!

Parenting is too hard to start with, without turning it into moments of sadness and grief.

Enjoy the adventure!!!!!!!!!

Just so y'all don't think I'm a big hard-a$$ all the time, yes, I cried at my daughter's wedding because it was a happy and joyful moment ... not because she was leaving (she had "left" 4 years ago when she joined the Army .... and no, I didn't cry then, either. She was off on a new adventure!). I cried AFTER i found out my Marine son was ok after receiving the Purple Heart when his LAV was blown up by a land mine.

I think I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum... I can't wait for school to start! My house is like a zoo
Anyway, I'm sure when my youngest starts Kindergarten I'll be sad too, but I try to look at it like Debi does because there's a lot to look forward to.
I was only 21 when we had our first, so a little part of me is looking forward to time where I don't have to be Mommy. Or at least only Mommy to 2 and not 3...
Hey, now you'll have more time for cakes!

What worked for me was to always be excited for my children and their new adventures. I loved every age...but realized there were always benefits for the next age/stage in life. I had one extremely independent child from day one and the other was independent but surely liked mommy around.

One of the biggest surprises for me was when I took the second one for the first day of kindergarten. He had the same teacher his sister had 3 years before and was quite familiar with the school and its set up by that time. I drove up to the school and parked. He opened his door, said, "Bye Mommy!" and ran to his classroom! I sat there in amazement as he went in the door of his classroom. It was a hard to not get out of the car and follow him inside, but that was such a huge moment for him that I just had to not make it about mommy and follow him, but let him be a big boy.

I would suggest looking at all the good parts of this big change. I always planned fun things for me on the big transition days so I wouldn't be tempted to sit and mope. Too bad I didn't remember that on the day that one child started middle school and the started high school! That was much harder for me!

Sorry for rambling...I'm on high doses of medication at the moment. But I really think that if you can create an environment of excitement and celebration about these milestones and really encourage independence between now and then, you'll do great!

My kids have both served several years as overnight counselors at a camp. The kids who get homesick and stay homesick are the ones, typically, whose parents have unintentionally encouraged that. Sticking around too long at drop off time. Letters announcing how very much they miss their child. Letters offering to come get them a little early. Children often times then feel like they are not free to grow and enjoy themselves without their parents. When the kids know that you are comfortable with them separating from you and are celebrating that, they are free to celebrate it as well.

Once, we were at the closing ceremony for a week of camp. A mom and dad and their young camper daughter were walking in in front of us. The mom was detailing how much she had missed the little girl. How she couldn't sleep at night. How she would go into her room and cry. How she couldn't do anything without thinking about her. The little girl was quite puzzled and it was obvious she began to feel guilty. She stopped talking about the fun she had and clung to her mom the rest of the night.

That is an extreme story, but I think the extremes help to illustrate how we can help our kids grow up and enjoy it and we can too!

Thanx guys, it's weird, my dd has been in daycare since she was 4 months old and yes I'm looking forward to her going to school I cant wait, I even have all her school uniform ready and waiting, LOL!

I guess what I'm really worried about is her getting bullied, I was bullied at school right up until I was 13, so I am petrified of it happing to my little girl. Today I wished that she had gone with her daycare class, so that I wasnt there, she is good when I"m not there, but starts to get clingy when I am there, even though all her friends are there aswell.

Rach

I guess when you put it like that, I can see from a different point of view and didnt realise what I was doing, I certainly dont want to my fear into her, I have already been told that when she's at daycare she is very already very bossy! I was very independant as a child and I was always away on trips with out my parents etc, to which I would love for my kids to get involved in aswell.

I'm already signing up my kids for swimming lessons, dance and gymnastics as I want them to experience it all.

Thanx Indy, it's always nice to be able to speak to another mom who has been there, done that and can tell you what to expect and how to react to it when the time comes. I'll let you all know how I get on come Sept, I"ll post a pic of her in a new school uniform.

Rach

My DD is still another year away from pre-school and 2 years away from kindergarten but I already cry thinking about how fast that day is coming.

My youngest started Kindergarten last year and at least once a week, as the little yellow bus was driving away, I would get teary eyed. I knew he was going to join his friends that he made and have a ball cutting and pasting. I think part of this, for me, was he is my last and I'm starting to feel useless as they grow up (I am now officially "uncool" since my oldest turned into one of them "teenagers") and become self-sufficient. To help MY transition to Kindgergarten I volunteered for a couple of hours a week in his class (maybe a little stalkerish?) which made him feel special and me feel better. Your little one will be just fine, because you were bullied doesn't mean your child will be, and if it ever does happen you will handle it like a protective Mama (the playground scene for the movie "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" comes to mind )
It's a trade-off because I LOVE to get those cute little gifts that they make at school while I'm waiting for the little bus to pull up.
PS: I bauled like a baby at their Kindergarten graduations! And proud of it!

Many schools have counselors and volunteers in a special room with kleenex and coffee for the "kindergarten moms" on the first day of school. (I teach in the school where my child will go and I plan to be in the crying room-- unless the principal gives me a job somewhere to take my mind off it.) You are totally normal, and it sounds like you are doing a great job of letting your child do what she needs to-- you just have feelings about it.

Indydebi-- your comment about no owners manual-- very appropriate. Helps me forgive myself when I handle my son badly. He will be five next week, and he's allergic to peanuts. One time not long ago he said, "Mommy, it sure would have been better if they wrote that I was allergic to peanuts on my tag." He still (despite our conversations) seems to think we pick out babies at a baby store and that there are labels that are full of information.

Cried like a baby!!!! Cried when he went to Preschool and cried again when he went into Kindergarten. But that's just me. I cry at commercials I'm very emotional. I'm hoping this year will be better My eyes were so full of tears when I had to leave my son at Preschool that I couldn't hardly see the sidewalk.

You are completely normal. Some mom's take it in stride better than others. I wish I wasn't so emotional about everything but I am so I try to deal with it.

Good Luck!

Yeah Im a real emotional person aswell, I have yet to watch an episode of army wives without crying. LOL!

i bawl about everything. i bawled right through my daughter's ballet routine at her recital in may -i really felt like a dork for that one. i made sure she didn't see me bawling the day she started kindergarten. ok, or the day she started pre-school. she was nervous but she's just not the type to let it keep her from trying something new. i'm a teacher at another school and i'd often go home for lunch. of course i had to take the route that drove past her school when i knew she'd be out for recess. that's right, i stalked my own kid.

my son however, is a different type of guy. he'll start pre-school in august and i'm really keeping it positive and tell him all the great things he'll be doing. for that kid, one tiny note of negativity and he'll be a hot mess the whole first month. i'm letting him know that it's ok to feel nervous but it's a safe place and his teacher is a kind woman who wants him to learn and have lots of fun.

ya have to keep a smile on your face for this one. just go ahead and bawl when you're out of her sight!

you'll be fine and she'll be great, especially if she has your confidence and support!