29 May 2009

Slipping through my fingers


Last Friday was also another very special day for another reason. It was Kay's last official day of schooling. I say "schooling" rather than "school", because she still has to go to school to sit her exams over the next few weeks, but last Friday was the last day of actual lessons. Ever, ever. It seems like only yesterday morning that I held her tiny three-year-old hand and took her to her first kindergarten class. It seems like only yesterday lunchtime when again I took her hand and introduced her to her first primary school teacher when she was four. It seems like only yesterday afternoon when she boarded the bus heading for the big girls' school aged eleven.
Suddenly she is almost eighteen, an adult and able to vote in a couple of months. Heck, how did that happen?

Fifteen years have passed since that first day at kindergarten, in which she has learned the wonders of this world and the basics of reading and writing. I have sat listening to her read her very first books, watching her first shaky attempts at art, helping with those multiplication tables right through to now when at her request I try to test her and have to decipher the totally foreign language (to me) that is Chemistry. I have packed lunches when she used to be a faddy 6-year-old and hated the school fare; packed suitcases for school trips to far-off places such as Cumbria, Paris and Latin America; and packed a proverbial punch in mad-mother-cow mode, if I thought another child in the playground was being unfair or bullying her. I have watched her turn from a small wobbly toddler into a beautiful young woman who without my guiding hand wobbles still on high heels and towers above me.

Where have all those years gone? I must have got here in the Tardis! Her last day of school came stealthily in through the back door. It just cannot be possible. Don't get me wrong, I have prepared for years for this day in my mind over and over, determined not to get all weepy and sentimental, but it still comes like a bolt out of the blue and surprises me just how quickly eighteen years can pass. The time rushes by in a flash. You are happily ticking off all those milestones of losing teeth, growing new ones, different schools, exams, vaccinations and achievements and before you have time to blink, the chicks are leaving the nest. Make the most of your little cherubs while you can.

23 comments:

SMS said...

Too true Rosiero; I've been there once and teeing up for a re-run with No 2...though I shouldn't think the ride will be any smoother for all that. Yet I wouldn't have it otherwise, they need to spread their beautiful wings. Strangely, I didn't give much consideration to how my mum felt when I left home at 18!

Anonymous said...

Its sad to stop and think where has the time gone, but its also something to be proud of. You can look at her with pride and know you guided her to become what she is.

Rebel Mother said...

My eldest is 23 on Sunday. I had him when I was 17...I still think of him as 6!

Ditto Dave. Be proud you have raised such a wonderful young woman. xx

Wendy said...

Oh god, I sobbed at that scene in Mamma Mia, and I can't hear the song without welling up!

It makes me hug my little girl tight, and wonder at how quickly her first 7 1/2 years have already flown by. I don't know how I'll ever let her go.

You have clearly done a wonderful job :-)

Anonymous said...

Lovely post Rosiero. My daughter is 15 and currently driving me mad. I found her smoking on Friday, grrrr! If I look closely at her, I can still see that lovely little 6 year old girl in her though, and that keeps me going. My friend has 2 daughters in their mid 20's and she assures me that these difficult years will pass. I appreciate how difficult it has been for Kay with her dad's drinking. She sounds like a great, well balanced kid and I'm sure she is a credit to you. MX

Nota Bene said...

All those happy times and memories you have collected together over the years. I'm dreading the time comes to release the boy into the wild....another four years for me. It must be sad, but a whole new adventure beckons for you both

Rebel Mother said...

Rosiero - I've got an Award for you over at mine. Hope you like it RMx

Flowerpot said...

Oh that Mamma Mia number reduces me to tears just thinking about it - and I don't even HAVE children!!! You must be very proud of Kay.

Anonymous said...

Hi Rosiero,

The time does go by so quickly. My oldest is only going to be 6 years old next month but still in my head she is a toddler. My wife was in tears when she left her nursery to start school so I dread to imagine what she will be like when she leaves school.

It is such a true sentiment to appreciate these times as they disappear too quickly.

All the best

Nechtan

Anonymous said...

So very true Rosiero and she sounds such a lovely girl.

GG

Fi from Four Paws and Whiskers said...

SO true... and I cannot watch that treack without crying - and I bet every mum feels the same!

My son, the youngest of my 4, turns 18 in two weeks.... I can't believe it either. Lately, the realisation that the main part of my parenting life is over has been quite hard... I think I am getting "granny lust" instead!

Saz said...

Rosiero doesnt the song 'slipping through my fingers' tear at your heart and get stuck in your throat!?

Kit Courteney said...

What a lovely post.

I'm only just catching up after being away and I do find your posts to be so beautifully written.

Sometimes the subject matter is an ugly one but you write with such grace.

May your daughter thrive and prosper into her adult life :0)

Anonymous said...

I honestly don't know where the time has gone either!! I know what you mean about looking back to childhood. We can never forget those beautiful memories can we.

CJ xx

Jinksy said...

How this took me back! Wait till you have grandchildren - then the Tardis really takes off!
(Came here via Crystal Jigsaw, and so pleased I did)

nuttycow said...

This is just the beginning.

Yes, remember the good times but also think ahead to the fun and games to come!

grandmamargie said...

Yes, time does fly. I'm in my fifties and I remember feeling I couldn't wait to be 16, then 18, 21, and finally, 25. After that, it seems time has just passed me by. And especially the last 3 years as I've watched my granddaughter grow. I can't believe she's already 3.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Its very late at night but i just couldn't go to bed without saying I've just read this blog plus the one before. I've no religious platitudes to offer, just support and thinking of you. Another year, hopefully better. Good luck.

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

Wonderful post Rosiero. Where do the years go. My "funny little girl" will be 40 later this year and my similar memories came flooding back then. I didn't watch the clip - it would have had me blubbing. When my chick and I went to see the movie she wept so much during that beautiful scene as her "little girl" had just started school - and I wept with her! A x

Saz said...

YOU have me thinking now, Darcy? Healthcliff?..Mmmm ponder ponder!!LOL

Anonymous said...

Oh gosh, what a moving post. I'm going to treasure every minute. It's too easy to wish it away or fail to sit up and take notice.

Working Mum said...

Doing my best to! I'm wondering where daughter's first year at school has just gone, but I'm sure, in no time, she'll be having her upper sixth leavers' day. Too fast, too fast!

DD's Diary said...

Oh Rosiero, I can't watch that Mamma Mia clip, it makes me cry buckets - and my girls are still struggling with the homework! Funnily enough I was wondering this morning whether things would change with you when K goes off to university ....a lot of thinking I suspect xx