THE END OF THE BEGINNING

A day of mixed emotions .....

My younger son had his last day at primary school today. His class have had a busy couple of weeks with their end of term show and various presentation assemblies. It seems like they've been saying goodbye for a long time. Today was the very last day and along with it the dreaded leavers' assembly. I say dreaded as for the mothers it's a real tear jerker. The kids all read out poems about their memories of school and then released cards attached to helium balloons, on which they had written their hopes and dreams for the future.

I was under strict instructions not to cry as that would be "so embarrassing" - a phrase we seem to hear more and more in our house of late. Still it makes a change from "whatever" - the favourite saying of his older brother. I was good. The hankie went unused..... but only just!

The great thing was that the kids didn't seem sad at all. In lots of ways they've adjusted to moving on far better than their parents have. They were able to look forward and laugh at all the fun times to come. When I said to him on the drive in today (with a large lump in my throat) that this was the very last time we'd make this journey together, he just said "s'ppose so; now can we have Capital on!"...

There's a lot we can learn form the kids on a day like today. They really lived in the moment - all claiming it was the best day ever. For many of us parents, as we reflected on no longer taking "our babies" to school - and the looming teenage years, it seemed like the beginning of the end.

Fortnately, those bright-eyed, bushy-tailed kids taught me, as they laughed, joked and bundled about, that it was just the end of the beginning.