by Kelli Catana

It’s that time of year when most elementary schools have their Kindergarten information night for all the parents whose children will be attending kindergarten for the first time in September.  As such, I’m hearing lots of comments from anxious parents who can’t believe the time has passed so quickly and who are nervous, anxious and sad that their babies are going to be going to school in September for the first time.

But, not this mother. Nope.

There may be tears in my house on the first day of kindergarten but they won’t be sad tears!  I can practically guarantee you that tears of joy and relief will fall from eyes as I send my last one off into the kindergarten yard.

I think I’m one of the only mothers I know who’s ready to bring my kid to kindergarten now! I mean really, they must have room for one more, right?  I didn’t even go to the kindergarten information night confident in the fact that I might be tempted to try to sign him up right then and there.   You see, my last child, my fourth, will be attending kindergarten next year and while some parents are mourning the loss of their ‘babies’, I’m celebrating the end of babies in my house.

So while I’m anxiously awaiting the start of the next school year before this one is even done, I’m already dreading the inevitable ‘phase in’ schedule.  You know, when you get to send your child for one morning in the month of September to ‘get them ready’ to attend kindergarten all while teasing me with some long awaited alone time.  Where for one day of one week I get to actually send all four of my kids to school at the same time, only to not be able to send two of them again for another week.  Seriously – I truly believe that this phase in period benefits the teachers more than the students, and definitely more than the parents.

When I see those parents who are sad about sending their child off to kindergarten, I can completely empathise with them.  After all I remember my eldest’s first day at school and the pit in my stomach as I sent her off into the playground.  But even then I wasn’t sad – I was excited for her.  I was excited at all the fun things she would get to at school and the new friends she would meet.  And at that time I also had two younger children at home vying for my attention, so I was happy that she was able to go somewhere where she wouldn’t be fighting for my time.

Also, after having four children in give years, next year marks the first time in NINE years that I will have all of my children in school at the same time, for give days a week.  And even though I’ll only have the hours of 8am to 10:30am off, those will be the most magical two and a half hours of my day!

I will not miss having my son home with me.  Rather I will enjoy the time that he’s at school, playing with friends and learning something new.  And I can finally get that gym membership that I’ve been planning on as well some much needed me time.

I will enjoy the fact that he’s growing up and getting ready for new adventures in his little life while getting ready for some new adventures for myself.  Nine years of being home with little ones was amazing, but I am definitely ready for my little guy to start school in September.  Heck I even considered switching to one of those lucky schools that has full day kindergarten.

So I might be the mother crying at the fence of the school yard on the first days of school, but you can bet those won’t be tears of sadness.  Oh no, those will be tears of joy, and I’ll do my best not to dance a jig as I say my goodbye’s and go off to enjoy my well deserved me time.

Kelli Catana is a wife and mother of four who has a healthy obsession with celebrity gossip and coffee.  You can find her imparting her opinion on all things pop culture over at KelliDaisy.com.  Follow her on Twitter.