When I first became a SAHM I remember calculating how many years it would be before Jack was in school. He would be 3 before he went to preschool and then another two years before he went to kindergarten. The years seemed to loom out ahead of me, years before I had anytime to myself. Then I discovered that Jack was born after the October cut-off for school, meaning he would be nearly 6 before he started kindergarten. One more year of being at home, one more year of entertaining a small child. It seemed really exhausting and really long.
And I worried that he would be bored in school, that being the oldest would put him in a classroom full of kids younger than him would be boring for him.
But now that Jack is 4 and a half, I find it hard to imagine him going off to kindergarten in the fall and I’m grateful that he is not. The idea of 5 days of school seems like more than I’m ready for. I’m not ready to give up our time together. I’m glad that we have a bonus year together.
Yes, a bonus year. What I used to view as an annoyance I now think of as a gift. We get an extra year together just the two of us before school takes over and sports and friends and everything else gets in the way. We get to stay in the little bubble that we’ve built just the two of us. We get to keep our play dates and lazy days at home. We get another year of staying in our jammies and spending the day building tents.
While at one time these years at home loomed large ahead of us, now the time seems oh-so-short. And I’m grateful for every moment that we have. I’m so happy that I’m not sending him off to kindergarten. I don’t care that he will be the oldest in his class. I don’t care that he got an extra year of preschool since we started him at 2. I don’t care that we are putting off structure and homework and growing up just a bit. I don’t care that he will be nearly 6 when he starts kindergarten.
There are 5 years from birth to kindergarten and then 13 years where he will be in school 5 days a week. So I’m going to enjoy this bonus year of us being at home together. Kids grow up so fast, and these days it seems like childhood keeps getting shorter and shorter, so we get this bonus year before he goes off to school. Life is giving us both an extra year before school and I’m going to take it for all it’s worth.
Enjoy it! We start Kinder in the fall, and I wish we had more time. 🙂
Enjoy this year, you're right things change when they go to school. My twins are heading to Kindergarten this fall and I can't believe I have 3 school aged kids now. It went by so fast.
Ohmygosh I know exactly what you mean! My son's birthday is in August, so we may choose to hold him back- if we do then I'll have a "bonus year" too!
Our cut off is earlier than yours(August). We could have sent Mas at young 5, but we waited and it worked out for him. He loved being one of the older kids. And I did enjoy that extra year with him!
My older child is late October also, but our cut off here is the end of August!
My boys were born in late May and thought about holding our oldest back but didn't. Kind of regret it now. He will thank you one day 🙂
Oh how awesome that is for both of you guys. I wish that we could have those special days. That time together next year will be that much more precious.