On a drive to school one morning last week, I asked our 11-year-old son if he's going to miss elementary school.
"Nope, not one bit," he chirped, adding, "all the good teachers are retiring anyway."
I realized immediately that asking a preteen to wax nostalgic is pointless.
Mark KennedyHe added, "If you plan to go to my graduation next week, you better get there early. They are expecting like 600 people. If you think about it, every kid has a mom and dad and a bunch of grandparents."
Yep. I am aware that grandparents will arrive in bunches and that maneuvering in the school's parking lot will be like playing bumper cars at Lake Winnie.
In our hearts, we parents and grandparents know that the end of elementary school is a very big deal - especially if it's the baby in the family who is graduating. It means loosening those bonds of dependence that have held us together like bungee cords for years if not decades.
Our fifth-grader's elementary-school graduation will mean that I will soon be relieved of my duties as a morning chauffeur. For about the last 15 years, my workdays have begun with delivering at least one son to school.
Every morning at 7:30, after a 90-minute flurry of lunch-making, dog-walking and showering, I shout, "Are you ready, Freddy."
"I'm ready, Freddy," our 11-year-old calls back, and together we duck out the back door.
There was a blissful time five years ago when both of our sons were in elementary school together, one in fifth grade and one in kindergarten. I would sometimes park and watch them walk into school together, backpacks bouncing to match their strides as they walked side-by-side across the school lawn.
"I remember that year," our younger son told me last week. "(Brother) used to come by and say hi to me in the cafeteria every day."
Next year, the boys will attend the same middle/high school. Our 16-year-old son, who has a driver's license and his own car, will inherit the job of delivering his younger brother to school.
Theoretically, I should be pleased. It will give me more freedom to have that second cup of coffee each weekday before heading out on my daily commute.
But truth be told, it also means saying goodbye to some of the joyful chaos that comprises family life.
Every year when August comes around, it means summer break is over and we're returning to morning madness."Ugh," I think, setting my alarm clock back an hour. Then, within a day or two, we slide back into the well-worn grooves of the morning ritual.
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Fifteen years is a long time for a habit to grow roots. I still remember delivering our older son to preschool all those years ago. I remember how he used to hold his nose as we passed the "stinky chicken" plant. Also, I recall the way he laid a still-sleepy head on my shoulder as we walked into the UTC Children's Center. How his bottom lip would quiver nervously as I turned to leave.
All that is about to end. All those morning conversations. All those mad dashes back home for forgotten homework, the quick, car-line rehearsals of our end-of-day plan.
Friday is report card day, the end of an era in the life of our family.
Am I ready, Freddy?
No, Freddy, I am not.
To contact Mark Kennedy email mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645.