When my oldest started kindergarten I was a 30-something mom. I had a younger child in preschool. I instantly meshed with most of the other moms. We set up playdates with each other’s kids and socialized outside school.
I found a commonality with all the moms except the moms with older kids and a kindergartner. I just could not find a common ground with these older moms. My life revolved around the daily goings on with my kindergartner. The moms of older kids had a “been there done that” attitude. Seriously, what kind of parent forgets to send a Halloween costume to school with their kindergartner? A mom of older kids.
My daughter’s entry to school was also my entry in to the world of parenting a child through the public educational system. After 8 years I regard many of these then first-time moms among my closest friends. We have laughed together, cried together, and pulled our hair out at the latest hair-brained idea to come home from school with our child. In short we are friends because our children are friends.
Eight years later I find myself on the other side of the fence. I am now the gray-haired, 40-something mom puzzled by the hand-wringing of the very much younger kindergarten moms. My son’s rough transition to kindergarten is a source of annoyance to me, but I know this to shall pass.
While I don’t think I have very much in common with a mom of younger kids, I do like the feeling that I have weathered the storm once before and I will get my child through kindergarten.
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