Tomorrow is the last day.
Smallsteps' last day of daycare.
Come August, she will be moving on to preschool and because we moved two years ago a couple of kilometers, the preschool will be in another suburb, so her best friend, won't be there. Up until now, we have been transporting to and from morning and evening by car, which creates a challenge when either my wife or I are working at the office, as we are (thankfully) a one car family. The preschool (and future primary school) is less than a kilometer away, so well within walking distance and in time, she will be able to walk herself. This makes things a lot easier for us with scheduling.
At least I hope.
I don't think it has really hit her yet that tomorrow is the last day, but I am pretty sure that it has been weighing on her mind, as she is nervous about starting at the new school, worried about losing her friend and unsure about what to expect in general. For her, it is a very big life change - probably the largest in her young life so far.
It seems silly for an adult perhaps, but it is far more than the nerves of starting a new job, for as far as Smallsteps is aware, her teacher has always been there, her friend always by her side - they are family. She doesn't yet connect that she might not see her daycare teachers again and that daily contact with her friend will become weekly, maybe monthly, as lives fork apart.
She has been at the daycare for 66% of her life so far.
I remember her first day.
And those tiny little Nike shoes, we still have.
And my wife walking her down the path from our old apartment toward the daycare.
We used to have so much fun walking to and from daycare together and I would take the opportunity to have mini adventures with her then, talking about all kinds of things, negotiating whether we will go straight home or stop in one of the little parks with swings and a slide...
Just for a moment.
She found daycare strange at first, because so many of the children were barely speaking at the time and she was fluent in two languages. It made it difficult for her to engage with the children, so she took on the role of a teacher instead. This also meant that the teachers treated her a little differently too, because they could communicate so clearly with her, that she was often left to her own devices, while they tended to the others.
Will this have an effect on her later in life?
She won't remember it, but since so much brain structure is built in those formative years, everything has some effect, even if it can't be traced back to a particular period or single event. I know that my first day of kindergarten had an effect on me - and I do remember it from when I was four. Smallsteps will very likely remember this last day too.
But, with holidays ahead together for the next month or so, she won't have too much time to dwell on it and we will spend time swimming and travelling, having more mini adventures along the way. We will also practice going to the preschool, so the trip is familiar for her, the routine in place, rather than the shock of the first day being all new.
I probably don't get to be there to pick her up tomorrow for her last day, something I will probably remember for the rest of my life - but, this is the role I have too as a parent and, there will be other things that will arrive that I will both be there for and, miss along the way.
Disappointment.
It's part of growing up.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Look how much tinier she was ahhhhhhhhhhh. Next big step for a little girl :)
Yeh there will be a lot of things you will catch and you will miss. I think J feels a bit sad about the many, many things he missed being the work out of home parent when the kids were tiny. And then the things you miss increase as they get older, but it's fine as long as you're there and can catch most of them.
and this is fine there are some things that you want to miss anyway XD
She is growing so well - she is the funniest little thing :)
There was a colleague recently who quit just after starting (in another country) because he didn't want to work from home. He didn't want to have to say to his kids when they got back from school that he was working - it is easier to just be at the office. I get that....
Is it that safe there for a preschool student? I started from primary school. After few days with parents, I began walking to school and coming back to home alone. Today, it is almost impossible to let a primary school student go to school alone due to the unsafety in my city, Istanbul.
She won't be walking for the first year at least - so by then, she will be a primary school child. It is safe here though and common custom. Finland in general is pretty safe, though the cities are changing, same as everywhere.
I wish her the most happy experience in her new school, and every school after that. It seems like a long road ahead, but it's not. Hold on to every bit of it.
She was sad at the end, but happy to be on holidays :)
Amazing moment. Time flies by faster and faster. Pay close attention to what they teach in school nowadays.
Yeah, I am pretty wary of school curriculums - but I also am pretty active as a home teacher too! :D
That nice,life is all about levels,she is done with this phase,the next phase will be a little bit challenging but with time she will eventually adapt.congratulation to her.
From the studies, the largest changes in life come around retirement age.
Interesting. Retirement is not only a big change socially and professionally (obviously) but from a financial standpoint as well. It is typical that someone who has had an intact working career will earn about 60% of their salary at the end of their career. Even if moving to a lower tax bracket closes some of the gap, many people will have to cut their expenses quite substantially if they have no access to any other income stream or anything they turn into cash.
The trilemma with age is that in young adulthood one has time, health/stamina but no money. In adulthood on has health and money but no time. As a retiree, one has time and money but no health. Many will only have time these days. The unluckiest won't have that, either.
And the other thing to consider is relevancy - a child goes to school and has a job to do to learn (sense of a job), an adult working the same. After retirement, there is nothing that "has to be" done.
Yes, many people feel unneeded. Others mind their grandchildren, volunteer or take up a part time job. There are many possibilities to address that. Of course, those who are active on Hive already have plenty of opportunities to supplement their pensions.
Congrats on this milestone moment ☺️
Thanks :)
So cute
Ciao mio caro amico.
Questi momenti sono bellissimi, goditi a pieno perché purtroppo non torneranno.
Un forte abbraccio e benedizioni alla tua splendida famiglia
@luba555