They say that in raising children the days are long and the years are short, and of course they are right. But perhaps it is especially in these days of school graduations and changes of stage , when we realize it the most.
Last year we celebrated the graduation of my eldest son. A graduation that marked the end of the Primary stage and the goodbye to the school where he had been studying for years. But above all, and although it costs me a world to admit it, that graduation also marked in a certain way the end of his childhood.
In these days when I am attending the school graduations of friends’ children, I would like to share the feelings that these events produce , both in the children and in us, the parents.
A reality check on how fleeting childhood is
If you have a son who this year celebrates his graduation and change of stage, surely you cannot believe that time has passed so quickly.
I bet that while he smiles at you proudly with his cap on, you can’t stop thinking about that first day of school, when at just three years old your little one began a new adventure with a complete stranger, which over time has passed to be one of the most important figures in his short life.
The fragile, immature and hesitant child of that time has become a happy little boy, who conveys with his eyes the pride of the achievements made throughout his first school stage.
That slap of reality is even greater when images of before and now begin to be projected at your little one’s graduation event. In just three academic years you will see the evolution of your son and all his classmates, and you will smile through tears of nostalgia.
Boys and girls who entered school when they were just babies, and who today celebrate their passage to Primary school, converted into mature and independent little people with the desire to take on the world and continue learning.
But if this event leaves us parents in shock, I cannot explain in words what it means to accompany the children in their goodbye to the Primary stage . In this new graduation, tears are the main protagonists.
Tears from parents, children and also teachers , because they have been many years of relationship with their students, affection, complicit laughter, scolding and confidences.
Tears that hide a deep pride as a mother/father and also an even greater nostalgia than the one you felt years ago. But above all, tears of sadness at the imminent farewell and the closure of a stage that will not return. Because at that precise moment, you will be realizing that your childhood is giving the last gasps.
Gone are the early risers, the races against the clock to get to school on time, the family “fights” to do homework or extracurricular activities. Your child finishes primary school , and although many other similar situations will come, it will have nothing to do with what you have experienced during this time at school.
Now, the words Secondary Education, institute and adolescence are projected on the horizon with all the emotional charge that these concepts imply.
Our children are ready to enter a new stage , not only academically, but also in life. And just like what happened a decade ago, when they started school for the first time, they will continue to need us by their side, to fulfill dreams and continue achieving goals.
