Three days. That's all it took.
I took Monkey and Missy Woo to school this morning. We parked at the pub nearby and walked down a path that is a cut-through to school. The weather was nice, the children like to walk and it's lovely walking through the trees. We crossed the bridge over the brook, with a minor skirmish due to the presence of a big but friendly dog, and entered the school grounds by the back gate.
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| My shy and retiring little girl |
As we walked through the gate, Missy Woo let go of my hand, turned to me and said, "Let me go in by myself, Mummy. Don't come in!". I started to walk further into the playground but she started to run, so I stopped and let her go. I watched through the trees as she ran then slowed to a walk, first with her brother, who left her and disappeared through the infants door. She stopped for a few seconds and looked around, momentarily disorientated by children and parents walking in different directions, but never once back at me. I wondered if I should go to her and called her name but she didn't hear me. She regained her bearings, catching sight of a boy walking towards the reception classroom with his mother, and started to run towards them. She ran into the play area at speed without a backwards glance to me, and in through the door. I turned, and walked back out through the school gate, feeling somehow redundant but also proud of my confident, independent little girl.
Three days. That's all it took. She stopped being a baby sometime ago, but she's a real schoolgirl now. I think that it's beginning to sink in. To me, that is, not her. She is growing up so fast.
Three days. Bloody hell!
