Fly, little bird

By the time you read this, I'll have done it. I'll be a fully-fledged member of the school gates brigade. I'm hoping I'll now be able to relate to the frustration and delight of every mum and dad I’ve encountered recently, regaling us with tales from the school wars and secretly putting the fear of God into those of us still in the throes of the toddler years.

 

But it's time for our darling baby girl to stretch her wings just a little bit more and begin that long hard road of learning. To be honest, I don't know how I feel. I flip-flop between delight that I'll have routine back in my life and worry that she's too young or that there'll be mean girls in school.

 

I’m also in disbelief over how we got here so fast. It felt like only yesterday we were waiting patiently for her to arrive or talking to her during those night-time feeds, when I felt like it was just the two of us in the whole world.

 

Suddenly I remember those precious endless weeks; the ones where I slept sitting up in bed so she could get some relief cradled on my shoulder; the days where I couldn’t face dressing both of us so we stayed in our pyjamas all day.  As life goes on and gets busier, you tend to forget those precious moments, the ones that no one else knows. Blink and they've grown up and here we are, the night before her first day of school.

 

As I look upon her face, innocently sleeping, I kiss my baby goodbye, ready to welcome my little girl when she wakes because I know the daughter I put to bed tomorrow night will be a little different; a little older; a little bit more independent.

 

So as I kiss her goodnight, I silently wish on all the stars surrounding her that I've given her enough courage and self-awareness to be true to herself in the months and years ahead. I hope I have given her the love and security to know she is good enough and kind enough to rise above the mean girls I'm sure she will encounter. And most of all, I hope I have given her belief in herself that she is capable of everything she wants to achieve and more.

 

So stretch those wings little bird and fly. Your nest will always be here.

 

Aisling Kearney Burke is a mum to two inquisitive and destructive Under 4’s from Galway, who divides her time between running her own business, Beechmount Art Studio and attempting to negotiate the minefield of parenthood.