As we stopped in the school’s driveway, it dawned on me—my son is moving up a grade and it’s the last time I will be dropping him off in preschool.
Come June, he will be in the big building. He will be giving me real grades instead of star stamps. He will be studying different subjects—not just singing, dancing, and art. He will be eating in a big canteen, instead of having snacks inside the classroom.
Suddenly, I was awash with emotion.
It took a lot from me not to bawl my eyes out as I kissed him goodbye and wish him a great day ahead.
Moving Up Day
For many moms, moving up day is not only a day to recognize a child passing a grade level, and possibly getting awards or honors for his high grades.
It is the end of the early mornings, the long afternoons, and the late nights for the school year.
It is a break from fighting with your child to wake up early, to eat fast, and to do his homework.
It’s hitting pause on having to think about what to cook for breakfast, baon, and snack—and having to feel guilty when you feed him hotdog or de lata.
It is a vacation from bringing your child to school even though you’re too sick, you’re too puyat, or you’re just simply too tired from running the household and all the chores that comes with it.
As you watch your child dancing on stage on moving up day, you jiggy along, remembering the steps that you taught him until both of you have already memorized it by heart.
As he receives his award for academics, you beam with pride. You remember how he struggled writing the alphabet when he was little. And now, he is writing sentences!
There he is, your little one, looking all cute in his little graduation outfit. He looks all grown up. But somehow, you start reminiscing.
You remember him as a baby—how he used to scream his head off for dede, how he liked sleeping on your chest, and when he first said, “Mama.”
You remember his first steps, his first meal, his first everything.
You remember the early mornings, the long afternoons, and the late nights when it was just you and him.
Soon, he will be starting a new grade. He will have a new set of classmates, teachers, and subjects.
Your thoughts leap forward to the day when you don’t need to fix his baon, help him with his homework, and bring him to school. He will learn how to do it all on his own.
Suddenly, you don’t want this day to end. You want to cherish and capture everything. You want time to stop. You want to stay in this moment forever.
But you know you can’t. And you will resign to this fact.
So it’s okay to cry, mom. Let it out. Don’t worry, all the moms in the room feel it too.
Also read: Mom writes open letter to firstborn: “I miss us”