Picture Day!

My daughter had her school picture taken today and she did great.  I volunteer as frequently as I am able at her school, as a room mother, lunch volunteer, library aide, basically whenever they let me in the door.

I do it for several reasons; I have the time, it gives me the opportunity to talk to her teachers and also because I miss her during the day.

I left my job two weeks before I gave birth, and I have been home with her ever since.  I would not trade a minute of those five years for anything, they were wonderful and precious and I will carry that special bonding  time with me forever.

Letting her go for six hours a day has been another story.  It is hard to look at those chubby cheeks and blue eyes and not see the baby I had attached to my hip  (and other body parts) and realize that she needs school.  She needs to learn and grow and laugh and play.  She needs to make friends and get her feelings hurt, to learn to do things for herself and to ask someone besides mumma for help.  She needs all these things to develop into a strong woman.  Which is the ultimate goal, right?

But it is still hard.  And I still miss her.

On the flip side, hopefully a professional will take a better picture than this.