Wednesday 8 September 2010

Three days

Three days. That's all it took.

I took Monkey and Missy Woo to school this morning. We parked at the pub nearby and walked down a path that is a cut-through to school. The weather was nice, the children like to walk and it's lovely walking through the trees. We crossed the bridge over the brook, with a minor skirmish due to the presence of a big but friendly dog, and entered the school grounds by the back gate.

My shy and retiring little girl
As we walked through the gate, Missy Woo let go of my hand, turned to me and said, "Let me go in by myself, Mummy. Don't come in!". I started to walk further into the playground but she started to run, so I stopped and let her go. I watched through the trees as she ran then slowed to a walk, first with her brother, who left her and disappeared through the infants door. She stopped for a few seconds and looked around, momentarily disorientated by children and parents walking in different directions, but never once back at me. I wondered if I should go to her and called her name but she didn't hear me. She regained her bearings, catching sight of a boy walking towards the reception classroom with his mother, and started to run towards them. She ran into the play area at speed without a backwards glance to me, and in through the door. I turned, and walked back out through the school gate, feeling somehow redundant but also proud of my confident, independent little girl.

Three days. That's all it took. She stopped being a baby sometime ago, but she's a real schoolgirl now. I think that it's beginning to sink in. To me, that is, not her. She is growing up so fast.

Three days. Bloody hell!
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