Fifth grade send off

Today I found myself watching my fifth grader walk down the hall of the elementary school. All the 1st thru 4th graders lined the halls giving them one final salute good by. They were giving each of them high fives on their way out the door where they all met at the flag pole and said the pledge, the school pledge, and sang the Start Spangle banner as they took the flag down. If you would have told me about this tradition at the beginning of the year I would have thought it was cute, I didn’t realize the wave of emotion I was going to feel. I can still see his head coming through the crowd as he came down the hall. And it was so adorable when he spotted his little brother and gave him the sweetest little hug. And as they sang out on the sidewalk I just kept looking at him thinking it is so hard to believe that my baby is about to step into the next phase of his life. It’s times like these I cherish those sleepless nights feeding my newborn, or sleeping with him when he had a bad dream. All the things he did as a toddler such as stick his PBJ in the VCR, or the remote control in a cup of water just seem cute and I have to chuckle when I think of it. I remember when I had Josh and people told me to cherish the younger years they go by so fast, I thought, “yeah right, I haven’t slept through the night in weeks and Saturdays look like every other day of the week now.” But they were right, time has flown by. I am so proud of him and look forward to the journey that lies ahead. And maybe I will quit trying to rush Bo through toddlerhood. haha