Reflections on an elementary school career

Kindergarten

First grade

Third grade

Fourth grade

"It's my last full day of elementary school!" he said gleefully, a broad smile playing across his tan face, as he exited the minivan yesterday. My heart seized a little bit when he said this. It's not as if this hadn't resonated with me already. Ben's declaration was just my latest reminder.

Fifth grade

Whether I've been fretting over the looming middle school years or trying to process the realities that my son might face as he gets older, this transition has taken up a lot of my mind space in the past few months. Much of what I'm feeling is a wonderment at how quickly the years have passed, and I don't know if it's the state of the last several years or just time's funny tricks. Granted, we didn't anticipate Ben spending one less year in elementary school.

Ben's first day of kindergarten was a scant two weeks after Gus was born, and I was still such an emotional mess on that first day of school. Gus was not an easy baby or, for that matter, an easy toddler. He was colicky, and then once he became mobile, he was a bigger handful than ever. Things really didn't get easier until he turned 4. I can safely say that I spent most of kindergarten, first and third grades in a haze of stress. In the intervening years, we've sent Paul to school and Gus to preschool, and I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how it's been nearly five years since we started this adventure.

I'll try not to bemoan this, because every parent knows of what I describe. Instead, I'll take a short walk down memory lane. I'm so thankful to our school and to each of Ben's teachers. Class sizes have only grown since Ben enrolled, but every one of his teachers has taken the time and effort to look out for our boy and his needs. In the past five years, Ben has learned a dizzying amount, and it's been so gratifying to watch.

I often feel wistful for the time that has passed. There's no way around it. The process of kids growing is irrevocably painful, but it's exciting, too. How amazing is it that Mark and I can have real, nearly adult conversations with our son now?

I will steal a bit from the series finale of "The Office," and I'll do it badly, because I don't remember the exact words Andy Bernard spoke. It was something along the lines of not knowing you're in the best time of your life until it comes to an end. We're in that best time right now, the halcyon days. So let's stay right here, cause these are the good old days.