As my sweet Bear is wrapping up her final days of preschool and preparing for kindergarten in the fall, I am flashing back to when her big sister headed into “real” school.
It seems like it was just yesterday that I was crossing another mommy milestone and sending my oldest off to kindergarten. While I knew that both she and I were totally ready for her to be a kindergartener, I still had the first time parent jitters. I wanted to make sure that I did everything I could to send her off in the best way possible.
One thing I knew, was that trying to get photos that I would be happy with amid the first day masses at her adorable school would be too overwhelming for everyone involved. Instead, we opted to go out a few days before the first day on a pretty evening and get some back to school photos. She wore her first day outfit and we explored the grounds… and brought her Monkey.
See Monkey had been with her through 3 different first days at new preschools, helped transition her move from NYC to Houston and gone on every family vacation with her. Monkey also “held” hugs and kisses from mommy and daddy whenever we went out for the evening and soothed her that she could also have our love with her…
But Monkey was not invited to come to kindergarten… This was the only thing that made me nervous about sending her to a new school because it was the only thing that made her nervous. I spent most of the summer trying to think of a solution and then when we went to take back to school photos it seemed so obvious… We brought Monkey with us and she was in all the photos with My Monkey… I got photos of cuddles and fun on the school grounds. Then I scurried home and ordered prints of the photos to arrive before the first day…
When that first day came around, tugged into the front pocket of her backpack were the photos of my girl and her Monkey. She could sneak a peek when she hung up her back pack or got out her lunch box and she knew that monkey was there with her — and because of that, she knew our love was with her as well.
So, if you have a little one starting a new school in the fall and their special love is not allowed to come along, consider this simple solution to ease those tender hearts.
XOXO
PS: Be sure you are following me on Facebook for tips I’ve picked up raising my 4 littles ones and quick tutorials on getting better photos of your own little ones!
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