During Shot@Life’s Blogust 2014—a month-long blog relay—some of North America’s most beloved online writers, photo and video bloggers and Shot@Life Champions will come together and share stories about Happy and Healthy Firsts. Every time you comment on this post and other Blogust contributions, or share them via social media on this website, Shot@Life and the United Nations Foundation pages, Walgreens will donate one vaccine (up to 60,000).
Blogust is one part an overall commitment of Walgreens donating up to $1 million through its “Get a Shot. Give a Shot.” campaign. The campaign will help provide millions of vaccines for children in need around the world. Sign up here for a daily email so you can quickly and easily comment and share every day during Blogust! For more information, visit shotatlife.org or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
Yesterday was the first day of kindergarten for my oldest, Darah. Embarking on the 13-year ride of going to school for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, 9 months a year is a pretty big first. And it’s one I’ve been thinking about (and yeah, some days totally daydreaming about) for a really long time.
When I was pregnant with Darah, I imagined her first day of kindergarten being pretty much the same as mine, though perhaps in a classroom that wasn’t quite so 1985 in its aesthetic. Little Darah, in my mind, was just a mini-me, and knowing how to take care of me was something I had some advanced training in by the time I was 29. Besides, I’d read at least 6 different books on birth and the first few years of life, so I was totally in the know about how to do this whole parenting thing.
Understanding the earth-shattering, bring-you-to-your-knees love of a mother? That was all a bit new to me. I do remember getting hints of it, though, before little Darah was born. It would come in waves and it would scare me to death, to be perfectly honest. It was a love and a fear and a joy and a sorrow all squished together in a space much too small to possibly contain it. And in those moments of utter shock and awe, all I could do was rock the two of us back and forth and sing us a song or two to help us get through it.
And then, of course, my child was born and my heart was unexpectedly shattered when I had to return to work after my maternity leave. I spent every single lunch hour during my first year back at work with her at her daycare (it was just a 6 minute walk away…I was very lucky in that regard). Those lunch dates we had were sacred to me, and we would cuddle and coo and love on each other and sing happy songs. I used to think of those sessions together as my gift to her to help her get through the afternoon. But who am I kidding? They were for me. I needed a dose of Darah more than I needed air to breathe.
I left the full-time work force after that year so that I wouldn’t have to be away from my child so much, but you may be surprised to hear that Darah has been in a half-day school program since she was just over two. Darah was unbelievably amazing at Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star under my tutelage, but I did realize that my fierce love for my child did not necessarily make me her very best educator. Since she has been in a formal school environment for quite a while, now, kindergarten might seem a bit anti-climactic. And truth be told, I think from Darah’s perspective, it will be. She knows her teacher, she knows her classmates, she knows the songs for circle time, and she knows the school rules. She’s more than ready for this.
I always thought I would jump for joy the day kindergarten started. I’m a mama who needs her own personal time, and who works from home, so practically speaking, I need uninterrupted time to get some stuff done. Now I’m free to do those things. And that’s really great! And yet here I find myself, getting rocked to my core once again, blindsided by my heartache at watching my baby joyfully bound away from the car and practically leap into her first day of kindergarten, not even so much as glancing back at her mama.
I did a rather surprising thing on the drive back yesterday. I sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star all the way home, all by myself. Did I go off the deep end? It’s possible. But looking back on it, I have a different theory. You see, Darah and I have always spent our time together in the car singing. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star was one of the first songs she learned, and it has always been a favorite. I’ve used it to keep her awake when I need her not to nap in the car. I’ve used it to keep her entertained when she’s bored. And I’ve used it to connect with her when she’s feeling sad. Music does those things for people; it’s a common language in that way. Singing is a natural human response in times of fear and sadness as well as in times of joy. And let me tell you, I was feeling ALL the feelings on that drive home.
All of our singing together, from the very beginning, was as much for me as it was for her as it all turns out. All of the thousands of lessons on independence were for both of us, as well. And now I think back to my own first day of kindergarten and I’m able to paint my mother into the picture, over to the side, SO proud of her little girl for being so grown up. She was also probably crying a bit because in order for her little girl to do her part and stretch her wings, mama had to do her part and let go of them.
Give a Shot So Another Parent Can Experience Letting Go
This is just a painful reality of parenting: letting go. But we have to keep in mind that those painful moments of letting go are also opportunities to give thanks for the ability to get to see our children reach incredible milestones. Every 20 seconds a child in this world dies of a preventable disease before reaching their next big milestone. Polio, Measles, Rotavirus and Pneumococcal Disease are all treatable with vaccines. There is shockingly little that we can control for our kids, as it turns out. But one thing we can do is vaccinate them. Here in the United States, through the help of insurance (be it private or public), this is a rather easy thing to provide. But think for just a moment of all the parents out there who cannot access these life saving vaccines for their kids. Think of the anguish of not being able to provide one of the few measures of protection that actually exist.
That’s why the #Blogust team is pouring our hearts onto your screens this month. Because we can help. YOU can help. We are over halfway to our goal of providing 60,000 vaccinations for children all over the world who otherwise wouldn’t have them. You can forever change a child’s life RIGHT THIS SECOND by leaving a comment below. And then you can change the life of one more child by tweeting about this post. And then you can change a third child’s life by sharing this on Facebook. Got another minute or two? Then go for kids 4, 5, and 6 by posting on Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Google+. Then multiply your work beyond your own reach by calling on your friends to do the same.
The music is playing, right here, right now, and our social media shares are the life-changing lyrics. How can we keep from singing?
Awesome! Thanks for sharing and thanks for supporting #Blogust.
Oh my goodness! The first day of school for your oldest is such a huge first! I hope she had a great first day and all is going well! Thanks for such a wonderful post in honor of Blogust!
I LOVE that I was one of the early ‘caregivers’ for sweet Darah. She was my favorite in the baby room at New City. I loved snuggling with and reading to her. LOVED it. I am thrilled that these posts are helping to spread the awareness about vaccines and more importantly, the health that they bring to those that need them.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
What a sweet thing to say! I still remember how she would never ever nap for you guys! 🙂
Love this!!! Vaccinate all the people!!! 😀
Beautiful story! Thank you for sharing such fond memories!
Thank you for your wonderful post!
Love Bloglust!!!!
Thanks for participating in Blogust. So important!
The title of this post alone made me cry. Love it.
WWTD? What Would Tiffany Do?!
Love the blog! 🙂
You’ve brought me back many years, decades actually, to my “firsts” at Kindergarten with my children… and to the present with my 11 grandkids, 9 of them between 1st and 8th grade, with the littlest 2 a few years from the big K. What a lovely, honest, story. I can almost hear you singing in the car! Thank you for the smiles today, the heart tugs and your love of children everywhere who need love, singing and life-giving vaccines.
Beautiful !!
Thanks for sharing your story…i support This cause
Vaccines are cool!!!! 🙂
What a beautiful story, so eloquently shared. Motherhood is the most extraordinary journey through which we grow in the most beautiful, magical ways… I love your perspective about those heart breaking times… to be thankful that we have those moments in which we know the deepest form of Love!
Love it!
God Bless ALL of you for sharing your stories and for what you are doing!
You sure rocked those ties! What a sweet post!
What a beautiful post. I love it!
What a sweet post! Your little Darah is precious indeed.
On another note, I’m headed to a certain conference in Atlanta next month. Are you in? Because I think we should hang, since we are obviously long lost kindred spirits.
You are too sweet! I’m not going to the conference this year, and you should be glad, because I would totally sit 8 inches away from you at all times and it would probably get awkward. Especially during bathroom breaks.
Boo and hiss. I shall miss you greatly, and I wouldn’t even have minded being literal butt-buddies with you (mostly).
I love the connection to music – and the great cause this post supports. Thank you.
Love you, Tee!!
Great cause!
Love you post!
You know what – you are doing the mother thing right! Raising a confident girl and giving her roots & wings! My little boy starts Kinder this year and I feel like I’m losing a limb.
It gets easier. The first day was hard for me, but by the end of the first week of kindergarten my child and I were both very comfortable. I am grateful I get to drop off my kids at school each day and be there to pick them up. I can’t imagine losing one of them to a disease that is preventable. Thanks for sharing.
Love this, and I will pass along. Yay vaccines!
Love this, and will pass along. Yay, vaccines!
She is so adorable! 🙂
Vaccines! Babies! Songs!
You are so right! Singing in the car can make everything better. Congrats to the first day of K!
Vaccines!
Love that you two have so much fun together, and you’re right, every parent should have the chance to do that. That photo of her is just too precious!
Love this post! My oldest is starting Kindergarten and my heart is aching over it!
Thanks for helping save lives with #Blogust
Your first day photo of you is sooo cute! But, your daughter is just as cute. I love the ties in the selfie!
Yay vaccines!
I love your tie picture. My daughter and I spent our time spelling. So much fun. Now she has three
This is such a great post and cause. You and your daughter have created a memory that will forever be with you both. Letting go is never easy.
Great post for a great cause. Miss you!
Thanks for sharing your story. Love your pencil necklace, by the way! Your daughter looks like she is ready to take on the world! Love that you sing with your kids!
Such a bittersweet moment when you realize how independent you child has become.
I just love this! And that pre-labor picture is right on! Doesn’t everyone think they know how to have a baby before it happens?!
Thanks for sharing! You are soooo right (and those pictures are hilarious!)
Hope you both have a great year!
Hope Darah is having a great time in Kindergarten!
What a great campaign to share!
I hope you keep singing for many, many years to come!
Our youngest went to Kindergarten today. I thought it would be a big adjustment for him but he took it all in stride. They grow so fast but you know what they love the most and that is one of the best mommy perks around!
Thank you for sharing. Singing is great medicine. I love singing in the car.
Love the singing in car with ties. Singing together as a family is something we do to calm down a cranky baby on car rides.
What a beautiful post! I too will never forget the first day of school for my oldest followed by the first time in nine years that I had an entire day at home to myself with both kids in school. It is such a bittersweet moment which makes me sad and happy for them. Yes letting go is the hardest thing we can do as mothers!
I loved your post! It is hard to let go but always remember, the mother/child bond is so strong and will always be there. As your beautiful daughter gets older, you’ll see what I mean. My sons are 31 and almost 27 and even with sons, it’s true. So don’t worry and revel in each milestone she takes. God bless you both! ♥
Such a cute picture of you and your daughter singing!! And I have found myself singing kid songs too, when my littles are not around! LOL!
“Sing, so that it goes away!” and “When you are sad, look at the sky!” are two precious lessons of life learned by my mother that I never have forgotten and have passed on my three children. I am Italian, but “Twinkle, twinkle little star” was a beloved song also for us. Thanks to sharing for a wonderful cause and “All the best” for you and Darah!
Beautiful post!
From the time I found out I was pregnant I sang to my daughter. This year she just started 4th grade and you will still find us singing and dancing around the house, the store, wherever and whenever the mood strikes us (which seems to be all the time). Our song is Edelweiss, I sang it to her before she was born, when I would rock her to sleep, and even now when she is sad, sick or just wants cuddle time. Music is healing, and as Trisha Yearwood said “The song remembers when”.
Thanks for beautiful sharing.
I hope the car singing continues throughout your journey together! And here’s to giving a child another shot at life!
We often just have “opera day” and I wouldn’t miss one drive to (and from) school with my youngest because we sing the entire way.
Beautiful post, beautiful cause. I can’t believe how much that little bunny has grown. She is a baby, but not a baby. It’s so hard to wrap my head around it sometimes, as you know more than anyone. Please tell her Aunt Laura and Uncle Kyle are rooting for her to have a rockin’ kindergarten year!
So sweet!
I can’t believe that our bunny is 5 and in kindergarten! To me parenting is just one long process of letting go of your child. So it is at the same time joyful and saddening to experience milestones like the first day of kindergarten.
Great post love.
Thank you for sharing! Keep on singing . . .
the same happened with my nieces, I share the sentiment,.
this is a very sweet story, I hope you can keep singing for a long long time !!!
That is so sweet, what an uplifting post to read to start off the day! And for a great cause as well!! #joy
Okay, I love the photos you used!! Also, I am so with you. I left my full-time office job to be home with my [three-year-old] baby four years ago – but from day one, she was in preschool. I wanted to be here for her and with her…just not literally every hour of the day. Still, the first day of kindergarten last year was rocky for both of us. Starting “real” school is simply a big deal!! (Also – awesome campaign! Glad you’re participating and happy to help with a comment!!)
What an unbelievably sweet baby picture!
This is a terrific post!
The pictures of you *belting* out “Suit & Tie” are adorable!
So many wonderful bloggers helping kiddos this #Blogust!
Way to go!
Love the tie picture — too cute!
Love this! And your title is my favorite song ever — sang it to both my kids every night at bedtime (still do to the 6-year-old when she’ll let me) and sing it, loud, in the car whenever I need a boost. Thanks for your story!
Love this post, Tiffany! We LOVE what you shared about you and your daughter singing together — so sweet! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Ref- How can I keep from singing ?Letting go, #Blogust-style. Parenting & motherhood are
universally bonded with child’s perspective.Children’s perspectives in early childhood or kindergarten stage & adult childhood are as natural family process depends upon universal
motherhood environment.Painful reality & joyful reality of parenting are realty of human life process. Health consciousness & parenting healthy biological life &guidance to children could give opportunities of all happy & healthy firsts of life.
Letting go is hard, but as Khalil Gibran said, “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.” I try to keep that in mind every time they reach a new milestone. Hugs, great post!
Good luck to Darah. Thanks for supporting Blogust.
Love the singing… my daughter and I spent our road trip home yesterday singing along with the soundtrack to Man of La Mancha… especially belting out The Impossible Dream. 🙂
Made me smile 🙂 …. thanks for supporting SHOT@LIFE’s vaccination campaign and Blogust 2014!
My oldest boy starts Kindergarten next week! I’m so impressed you didn’t break down in a puddle!
As i’m reading this my 3 year old is bounding around the room singing “Happy” from Despicable Me 2, (and playing with the fart gun toy). I’m going to go sing with him for a few minutes before our hectic day starts. I’m so thankful for his health and the opportunity for health this program is going to give to other people’s babies.
I am both dreading and counting down the days until my dude heads off to his first day of kindergarten.
Great post! Thanks for writing!
Wonderful post and I love the photos. Yes, let’s all keep singing.
In the car singing with my daughter right now as I take her to college to start junior year. Kindergarten seems like yesterday! Great post.
Blogust is awesome! Such sweet pics of you and your girl!
We are all so lucky to have been born here… lucky to be raising our families here. I’m happy to help out children who weren’t so lucky. God Bless!
Great post – and the pics are priceless! Smiles!
What a wonderful story – and I love the idea of singing. Think I will pass this on to my granddaughter who is a new mother of wonderful little boy. So glad I get to read these stories each day and then comment and give a vaccine.
So so hard letting go! I’m remembering my oldest’s first week in kindergarten, bittersweet indeed. Thanks for sharing for such a great cause.
Beautiful!
So sweet!
“That’s why the #Blogust team is pouring our hearts onto your screens this month. Because we can help. YOU can help.” YES!!!! This! Thank you Tiffany!!!
Such a sweet post. I know Darah is going to excel!
and you do indeed rock those ties!