And you will know us by the trail of craft supplies

Today is Lucy’s last day of school.  It is a bit melancholy; only last year I was terrified by the prospect of my baby being away from me all day after so many years of doing everything together, and now it seems strange that she won’t come home every afternoon beaming and glowing with tales from the front.  It’s going to take some time for us to adjust, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I am beside myself with excitement at the prospect of having time to spend with my little me.  We have a project picked out for tomorrow already–yogurt cup dolls–and then the playground on Saturday and Sunday, a Father’s Day extravaganza replete with a trip to the Museum of Natural History and a dinner ‘party’.  It has come out that ‘The Brother’ and I may not be invited to the museum, but I intend to shoehorn my way in there no matter what.  I am going through museum withdrawal since we ceased our weekly jaunts to the Met, and this is by far my favorite museum in the history of museums.

I am a bit nervous about her reaction to leaving school this afternoon, mostly because of Lucy’s attachment to her friends at school and the knowledge that most of her favorite schoolmates are either moving up to 1st Grade next year or heading to a different school.  Thankfully we have contact information for her initial best friends, although I may have to scramble around this afternoon to get same for her new best friends.  They have multiplied over the past week, as I recall they were apt to do as school draws to a close.  Man, I’m getting teary-eyed just thinking about how I sent my baby to school and she’s turned into a real little girl.  It’s a killer, but at the same time I am so proud of her, and so excited for her next year at school.  It doesn’t even seem daunting to socialphobe me to talk to other parents after school today to arrange getting kids together.  I reserve the right to change my tune if I have kids coming over for playdates*, however.

Maybe it is because I’ve never quite felt like a grown up, or maybe it’s just because I’m a sentimental fool, but I’m being flooded with reminders of school ending and the prospect of an entire summer or new experiences and I am downright excited.

*I certainly hope we will have kids coming by because as I was boxing up the stuff we’ve been saving for crafts, I realized that either we need a new bookcase to absorb finished projects or they are going to have to be sent on outta here.  For the time being, it’s a great excuse to cull some more books from our many bookshelves.  I’m lousy at moderation, truly.  At the very least, though, we have enough of everything that Lucy and I can both make stuff, which is really fun.  I’m glad I’ve gotten over the urge to make the apartment look like a magazine, which was never going to happen anyway, because I’ve really enjoyed making things with Lucy.  Sometimes now I even get the urge when she’s not here to cut and paste or color.  I think that has to be good for the soul, right?