Kindergarten. That’s what we call it here in Sydney, Australia; the first full-time year of BIG school. The kids are SO cute, with back packs almost as big as they are and new school shoes all sparkled and clean. They line up crooked, say adorable things and wear their socks mis-matched but nobody minds. They wave goodbye to family and friends, or don’t. Burst with excitement one day and despair the next (‘You mean I have to come back to school again tomorrow!?’). Kindergarten kids are full of enthusiasm and gorgeous energy. But, oh, how I’d forgotten what it was like to be a kindy mum!

My big kids have been at school for a long time now, so I feel like I’ve been a ‘school mum’ (mum is how us Aussies say ‘mom’) for ages. I’ve dropped off and picked up, done parent teacher interviews, helped at reading groups, volunteered in the canteen, covered books, been on committees, participated in prayer groups and more. But until my youngest donned his uniform for the first time at the start of this year, I’d forgotten what it was like to be in Kindergarten. As a mum, I mean.

Kindergarten mums are different from other school mums. Kindergarten mothers hover en-mass. They peek into classrooms, while trying to appear casual. They wave and smile and try to send their little bundle-of-joy-all-grown-up-now off to be educated in as confident a manner as possible. But secretly they wonder if they’re doing the right thing. Will their said bundle-all-grown-up-now be ok? Will their child be noticed by the teacher? Will they be heard, find friends, remember how to unwrap their lunch, lose their hat, lose their way, be found again? And will they still want a cuddle at the end of the day?

Starting BIG school is a BIG deal. Frightening even. There are so many new people to meet. New routines to master. New ways to talk, think and speak. There’s homework, shoe laces, books to remember, books to read, words to practice. There’s so much to take in and remember, and so much that could go wrong if things don’t go right. The emotional adjustment is worse than any roller-coaster ever invented.
Never mind what the child is going through, kindergarten mums have it tough!

So if, like me, you’re a kindy mum (or it’s equivalent in other parts of the world) make yourself a cuppa this school holidays and sit down to marvel at what you’ve really accomplished. And, if you’re not a kindy mum, make that cuppa anyway and go find the closest kindy mums you can. Then sit down and listen to them tell their stories – the highs and the lows (for there will be several) – and give them a hug, and a big ‘Well Done.’

It’s no small thing sending a child off to school for their first term or two, even if you’ve done it several times before. And it’s no small thing to be a kindy mum!

Penny