Everything changes so fast

[NiteNicole]

For a variety of reasons, we are selling our house and will be moving very soon - right before Christmas. We have kept our daughter home from preschool but we're moving to a town with a very good school. There's been a lot of discussion about letting her start in Jan. She really really wants to but I can't get past the idea of handing over my baby - I mean come on, four is still so little! - to someone else for most of her waking hours, most of the days of the week. I'm surprised that most people really don't seem to have a problem with it. To me, it's a big hurdle! I know she'll start kindergarten next fall. She wants to. She really really needs a lot more social interaction than I can facilitate but I'm just not ready. I am resolved to next August even though it feels like everything is just moving so fast. Tonight as I was going down the hall to put her to bed, I caught a glimpse of her at five months on her first Easter. I just can't believe where the time has gone. I feel panicked and I just want to yell STOP! I'm not ready!

Am I crazy? Do other people feel this way? It's just going so fast.

ETA: I put this here not as a discussion about the pros and cons of school or preschool but because I just feel so freaked out by how fast the time is blowing by. I had my daughter relatively late, there will probably be no more babies for me and I just feel like the time with her being small is getting away from me.

[famousmockngbrd]

I know what you mean. It's hard to believe these big kids are the same ones we carried in our arms, fed mashed up bananas to, etc. Where did our babies go?

[meemee]

nitenicole my dd is 8 now. she is developing breast buds. OMG am i freaked out or what?!!! i am not to see her so grown up. it just looks so strange that she still is not aware of sitting properly yet developing breast buds. in a couple or 3 years she'd possibly start her periods (i was early and so was my mom). OMG i am so so so so not ready for that.

and yet dd is sooo ready to blaze ahead. i am no longer allowed to kiss her in public.

i am not ready for all that she is sooo ready for.

and yet i do it coz she wants it so. i just cant deny it as she is so totally ready for it. she CANT wait to grow up. she is already getting into some of my clothes. noooooooooo.

so not ready for it.

[mattemma04]

It went super fast.My kids are 8 and 11 now and it is getting hard to remember them as little ones. I wasn't in a hurry to hand them over to all day school either.Lol,I still want them home more!

[ChetMC]

Time

Time does go really fast. And it only speeds up!

Honestly though, I don't see many posts from people who regret not sending their kid to preschool. There isn't any rush on this stuff. The research I've seen suggests that the benefits of early starts, particularly in advantaged kids, disappears quickly. After a short time in grade school you can't tell who went to preschool anymore.

It strikes me that your DD really wants to go though. I was going to say "just keep her home and enjoy your time together" until I read that. I didn't want to send our oldest to kindergarten last year, but she wanted to go. There was no particular reason to not send her so we decided to give it a try.

Then I read that preschool was "for most of her waking hours," and thought, "no way". Our oldest went to a preschool that she loved for four hours a day three days a week, and I thought that was just right for a four year old. For us, kindergarten was 9am to 2:30pm and DD could come home for lunch. I would have considered an extremely long day a reason to homeschool for kindergarten.

This year DD is in a class that has her gone all day (8am to 5pm) and it's not okay. We're sucking it up for a year because of the long term benefits, but time does go fast and we didn't have kids not spend time with them. I can't until DD has a 9am to 3pm school day and can come home for lunch again.

I do think often about how fast the time goes, and I'm glad that I realized this so early on. It's better that you recognize it now and cherish the time with your DD. I think too many people don't realize it until their kids are older and would rather hang out with their friends than spend time with their family.

[3xMama]

I know what you mean! My DD is 4.5 and my DS is just about one. I cannot believe my little baby boy isn't so much of a baby anymore! And then I look at DD compared to him and I am shocked at how quickly she's grown, changed and become a kid.

It stinks when our kiddos are ready to do things before we are ready for them to do those things. But what can we do? Can't really keep them from growing up, kwim? I try to stay in the moment as much as possible and enjoy what stage they are at now. Doesn't always work out the best, but I try.

[serenbat]

there are other things you can do-

most areas have "home-school"-like groups for younger children, start with just doing one or two days of activities/get-togethers a week for starters and see how it goes for both of you

in most states, school is not required at K (my states is age 8) most people feel that children need K, pre-schools etc but there are others that don't and the children turn out just fine

[NiteNicole]

She really really just wants to go. My friend has her child in a charter school program that's about equal parts home school and classroom and I'm so envious. There's nothing like that here. I don't know one single person who homeschools and the only groups I've found have been very conservative religion based schools. And aside from all that, she really does just want to go. Homeschooling her would be 100% for me and not her.

And even if by some miracle I did manage to convince her and my husband (and myself, as she really does just seem cut out for school) that it's a good idea, she's still getting older and growing up. I'm so interested in who she is and the new things she comes up with every day, but I so much want to hold on to my baby.