Yesterday, I registered my oldest son for Kindergarten and I realized that for the last four years, I have been immersed in a subculture -- one full of colorful toys and morning play dates. I made all of the decisions each and every day. As my firstborn gets ready to enter Kindergarten, I am realizing that my life will now be ruled by "the system."
When you are a mom of little kids, no one expects you to be anywhere on time. And no one minds if you show up a few minutes late to a play date (or even Preschool). Now, being a few minutes late results in a Tardy.
When you are a mom of little kids, you can choose to stay home all day for no particular reason. You can cancel plans and play on the floor all day. Now, keeping my son home for a lazy day would be an unexcused absence.
When you are a mom of little kids, people don't bat an eye when all your child will eat is chicken nuggets with an obscene amount of ketchup. Now, I am going to be expected to send nutritional lunches with my son that consist of something other than starch and preservatives.
When you are a mom of little kids, people understand if their clothes don't match, they have crusty noses, sticky fingers and untamed hair. Now, I am going to make sure everyone is looking (and smelling) presentable each and every day.
When you are a mom of little kids, you know every single thing that they did all day long. You know of every conversation, every learning moment and every upsetting conflict. Now, I am going to have to accept that my little boy has a life outside of our relationship.
And that is the hardest part -- knowing that I can never go back to the way things were. No matter how long those days seemed...
This post originally appeared on MomShar.com