Today marked the Ground Zero of Parenting. After five years of watching little Sam turn into a healthy, active, curious and constantly growing little boy, this Wednesday brought a morning that I had only heard about.
The day you start to "let them go".
When a 5-year-old says "bye" and runs off to a new playground, with hundreds of new little boys and girls and seems to be completely happy, it makes a father think about his new place in the hierarchy of a child. Still important? Or just Money Bags Dad, there to pay for Skee-Ball, Pizza and, eventually, Car and College?
It first hit over the innocence of a lunch at Perkins. Sam asked to eat lunch there after we registered him at kindergarten. As Sam polishes off his "smiley-face" pancakes, looks at his mother and says, with a thick layer of matter-of-fact in his voice, "Mom, even when I'm in kindergarten all day, I'll still love you."
She lost it. I didn't but it made me think.
I've reassured myself with this notion that I have, literally, spent the past 5 years and 2 months, as a father, building Sam up for this very day. Each and every day we talked about life or cars or sports or just being friendly and social to others. All so that, sometime in 2007 when it was time for full-day kindergarten, he would be ready.
But would I? Am I?
I think so.
However, now I am in a much quieter house as a little girl, all of 2, looks to me to be the Primary Entertainment Provider. For me, Sam played that role for all of her 34 months on this planet. Now he's gone all morning and I get to have the extra time.
And I welcome every minute of it.
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