Bigger and Bigger

Today is the first day of classes in the Upper School; JT started class last Wednesday.  As is my custom, I made his picture on the first day of school.

As this photo makes abundantly clear, I am no longer the mama of a little boy.  He's not quite taller than me, but that's only a matter of time.  He started the 4th grade last week and that means that next year he'll be in middle school.  Middle school will certainly mean I no longer have a little boy.

I can't quite wrap my mind around such a development.  I'll be thinking of this today as I look at my classroom full of 11th and 12th graders.  The parents of those students are staring down the face of sending their children to college in a year or two.  That is the goal, after all; the target to which we all aspire.

And yet.  I'll bet those parents still see a 4th grader in the face of their sons and daughters.  I'll bet they can instantly recall the days when that little bundle could be held against the hip with just one arm.

And here they are in my classroom; young men and women who are nearly adults.  They are smart and craving independence; they are eager for the challenges that lie ahead.  But for all of that, they are still some mama's baby. And I will remember that as I am in class with them this year.