To my boys on your new adventure of Kindergarten

This month the two of you start a new phase in the journey of your lives.   Kindergarten is up next. Your backpacks are ready, your supplies have been delivered at meet the teacher day, and your brand new lunch boxes are packed.  You are so excited maybe not so much to ride the bus. You both love the teachers that I have to say we have been blessed with. 

 We walk to your school on the weekends and clean the playground while you also get to play. You have your new clothes and your new shoes,  I have no doubt that this year will be a big and exciting year. I promise to work in your classroom and do what I can to make your school a better place in any places that I can.  

You will make new friends and in 30 years still remember these friends, some like your mom has you will have them for life long friends. I know you will love some of the things that you get to learn and there will be things you would rather stick over. These things I promise you need to try.  If the two of you decided that you want to try something like Piano or swimming ect.... I won't let you quit. Even if you hate it, the two of you will not give up on something you wanted to start.  Why you might ask? Because I quit everything never finishing and it really made such a negative difference in my life. I don't want this to happen to either of you. Give yourselves the chance and give the new hobby you wanted to try a chance. I promise I will be there every day to encourage you. 

You will have teachers that inspire you, challenge you, and push you to achieve.  Please remember to Thank them.

I can’t wait to see how the two of you grow and change over this year.  I know that when I look back at the end of this school year you both will be more than just a year older and an inch or two taller.  You will be transformed from the preschooler you were before, to a true “big kid,” ready to take on the world.  I’ll admit, a part of me is a little sad that so much of your days will take place away from me, and that I will have a smaller part to play in your daily life from now on.  But I know that this rite of passage means you are growing up, and I am so excited to see what you will become. 

When I got the two of you safely to your rooms on the first day of school I walked back home on this amazingly beautiful fall day with the thought of the first few months of your lives. Living in the NICU and thinking that this moment would never come. 

Yet here we are. I couldn't be more proud of the two of you and how far you two have come. 

As you walk the kindergarten halls this year, remember what you have learned so far; be kind, be polite, listen well. Ask questions. Be cautious, be courageous. Stand up for others. Especially those that are weaker then you might be.  Be thankful for the friends that you make that stand up for when you need it. Run, play, fall, get skinned knees. Do new things all the time, things that are hard for you to do. Raise your hand and ask for help. Take your turn, say please and thank you. Clean up after yourselves at the lunch room. Give help to others when you see their needs.  At the end of the year we will look back and marvel at just how much the two of you have grown. How much all three of us have grown. 

Go out, and take on the world my son.