Big Day

Today is a BIG day. A big day for all of us. Today, Friday, July 11, 2008 is the last day any of our children will be in day care. Ten years, four children, three day care/preschools, close to three years with a nanny and today we are done. Since Jeff and I both work, it is not the end of child-care payments. The kids are in after-school programs, at least for a few more years (unless I don't find a new job, then we'll re-evaluate). But what a big change in our lives. Monday, the girls start kindergarten, a big leap in independence for them. I've been looking forward to this day and the boost it will give to our finances. Counting down the months until we were free, free, free! I'm sad though. It's the end of an era of our family history. One last time, we'll send them off to kindergarten, where we aren't welcome to drop in "anytime". Where they don't want us to even stop by for lunch during the first two weeks. We'll find out if another of our children takes just a little bit longer than average to learn how to read. The girls will grow by leaps and bounds and this time next year they will be seasoned elementary school kids, ready to take on the next class with the next teacher. Tonight we'll go out to dinner with the whole crew and celebrate and I'll be trying to keep the exuberant group to a low roar. And next week, everything will change. Oh, and did I mention that my oldest started middle school this week? ...