Day 295: A Camping We Will Go

After a week-long stretch of quarter examinations, the graders of BFCS are so excited to have their yearly scouting day and overnight camping today. This is the first time that my son, Jarred will join such an activity. In fact, the event has a lot of firsts for the family. It is the first time that my son will be spending the night away from home and from us. 

When I dropped him off at school this afternoon, I felt that tugging at my heartstrings once again...those warning bells that seem to scream that he's growing up way too fast for me to catch up. After dinner, I couldn't help but ask hubby for us to swing by school just to check how Jarred's doing. We were quite amazed to see a lot of cars parked in front of the school. Obviously, we weren't the only ones stressing over this "night-away-from-home" event. The kids just finished their evening activities and were about to have their snacks before preparing for bedtime. When it was finally time for bed, there was a mad scramble of parents and kids going here and there, lining up at the comfort rooms, going in and out of assigned bedrooms. Mommies were going after their kids, making sure they did their nightly rituals properly. I was not spared the same as I had to make sure Jarred knew how to keep his stuff away neatly. It was only when I felt satisfied enough to leave him on his own that I decided to finally ride the car and go home. I hope my son has a good night's sleep tonight...I don't think I'll be able to sleep soundly though as my thoughts will be drifting off to Jarred all night through.

Day 8: Independence

Didn't I just write about how all grown up my son Jarred is now? Well, today is about another milestone in his life and our family. For the first time, he went to school and back home all by himself. His Dad or I didn't have to accompany him on the way to or back from school.

For many months last year, he kept on dropping hints at us that some of his classmates and schoolmates ride the tricycle all by themselves. In several occasions he would request if we would let him do the same thing. At the time, we thought he might not yet be ready to go off on his own but since turning 7, it seems he has grown so much, proven to be more mature and responsible. And so, today marks his "independence day"...and you should see the grin in his face when he left this morning and the pride in his smile as he arrived home.

Of course, this kind of independence is parent-controlled. We were able to contact a trusty neighbor-trike driver who agreed to bring him to and from school everyday. It is much like a school bus thing only that there is only 1 rider. To my son, it is complete freedom from being treated like a baby.