Gavin will get through the first day of school just fine. Not sure about his father.
I’m going to abandon by child next week with a bunch of total strangers, leaving him to fend for himself in a cruel world.
Almost 4 years old, he’s never been away from his parents or his grandparents or one particularly close aunt. No babysitter. No day cares. No Mommy’s Day Out. Just family.
But this comfortable little cocoon is about to blow up. Preschool starts next week.
I’d like to give him some fatherly advice, a few nuggets of wisdom to keep in mind as his heartless parents ruthlessly walk away and leave him there, alone.
Of course, he’s too young to read a blog. But luckily, this same advice can be recycled later for his first day of high school, the day he leaves for college, his wedding day, his 40th birthday and pretty much any other day that seems absolutely terrifying.
Everybody’s just as scared as you are.Maybe some of them don’t act like it, but they are. If they aren’t, they’re too dumb to know what a big deal they’re getting themselves into, and that’s a shame. Ignorance is bliss, but it’s pitiful, too.
You’re just as good as anybody else.You’re smart. And cute. And witty. And imaginative. And people are going to like you.
You’re going to like most people, too. But not quite everyone.Some people are mean. I wish it wasn’t so, but it is. They might even pretend to be nice, but they don’t really care about anyone but themselves. Be nice to them anyway. When we’re mean to mean people, we become one of them. And they win. Don’t let them win.
The day won’t last forever.It might seem like it, but it won’t, no matter how bored or frustrated or exhausted you feel. The sun will set and rise again. And you’ll find that the good days outweigh the bad ones.
You can tell your father anything.No matter how bad or how silly or how confusing or how trivial or how impossible, nothing you can ever say or do – and nothing that ever happens to you – could possibly make your father love you one tiny little bit less. So keep no secrets.
Hopefully, this will help him get through the day. Now, if somebody could just help me get through it.
