October Birthdays

I never knew having October kids would create such heartache.

Abby turns five a week after she should if she wanted to go to kindergarden this year. Technically, she would be fine academically and we could have her tested into it, but really? Why push it? I have heard from numerous people that they appreciated being the oldest in their class. Nick and I were both the youngest and we were fine, but as he says, "If she goes to kindergarden now, that's one less year we get to keep her at home."

So, here starts a new school year, where she will be attending Pre-School five days a week. She knew most of her girl friends from last year have moved on up to kindergarden and was okay with it. She has been looking forward to making new friends and having the same teacher.

Then we visited her school yesterday for her Open House.

Two things happened that brought tears to my eyes. The first was when she walked into her classroom and saw her teacher. She immediately ran into her arms and gave her a huge hug. It was a precious moment and probably reassuring to all the new students and their parents that were watching.

While we were visiting her classroom, she saw the kindergarden class walking down the hall. She ran out and at the end of the line that was filing outside, she saw them...her two favorite friends from last year. She yelled to Maggie and Paige and they immediately turned around, smiled excitedly and yelled, "Hey Abby!!!"

My tears came for two reasons. One being the lovely fact that they remembered her after a summer of not seeing each other. The second being the look on Abby's face. It was something between joy at seeing them and hurt at not being a part of what they were doing.

She went on to befriend another girl (who was actually going through the same thing with her October birthday) and I thought all was well. However, during Abby's naptime yesterday, she randomly started crying. When I checked on her, she sad she was sad because she really missed Maggie and Paige.

Now, chances are that some of these tears were part of her stalling process-she is a pro at attempting to get out of napping. But, the part that was real broke my heart.

I know that she will move on and make new friends this year. And I know that she will probably not remember the pain she is feeling now. But, as her mom, I want to stop the pain. I never realized how much parents do not want their kids to feel pain, even when it is good for them in their growing experience.

A note to all future parents-try and give birth to your kids before September or after November-it will save a lot of heartache. You know-because we have so much control over such things.