That Nuerotic Time Of Year

I promise to keep this year's neurosis, about losing my kids to school, to a minimum. I registered Gage for first grade today and Luke's preschool teacher came to our house to meet him. Miss Chris was adorable by the way and she totally caught Luke's interest with the sea shells she brought. His interest in attending school went from a 1 to 5 on a scale of 10. Gage told Tim that he thought Miss Chris was much nicer than his kindergarten teacher and that he wished Miss Chris was his teacher. Should a be a good year for Luke. It is just so hard to believe that my Gage will be gone ALL day in a few weeks and that Luke will leave the nest for 6 hours a week. I feel like I just got used to taking care of all three kids and now they are leaving me. It fills me sadness and yet I'm excited about going grocery shopping with just one or possibly two kids. I'm excited for the new art projects and for the wonder of watching my child grow and learn. When Gage leaves me a note and I can read it I just stare in wonder that he can do it and I'm in danger of turning into a pack rat thinking how precious it is and wanting to keep it. Each time Luke remembers a letter or sings his ABC's I want to record it in my memory and think about how 4 short years ago he was just a blob of cells with a heart beat. I'm consoling myself that Luke will only be gone for 6 short hours a week and will still mostly be mine and that I "lost" Gage to the public school system last year. I'm not feeling as neurotic as last year but I'm also not riding the postpartum hormones this year either.