Family Life

‘Twas the Night Before The First Day of School

'twas the night before the first day of school poem

‘Twas the night before the first day of school.
The kids were asleep (’cause 8 p.m.’s the new rule!),
And I sat on the couch and shed a small tear
Thinking of all that was changing this year.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of glue sticks danced in their heads.
Their backpacks were hung by the front door with care,
Knowing the school bus soon would be there.

All I could think was how quickly you’d grown
To all of a sudden be leaving our home
And heading to school for the first time ever
To learn reading and writing and strive to be clever.

Study science and music! And socials and reading!
Learn math and learn English! Then a parent-teacher meeting!
There’s so much to learn, so much fun to be had,
I was both proud and excited (and just a little bit sad).

I hoped that you’d love your new teacher and classmates,
Make lots of new friends and set up some play dates.
I couldn’t help but worry that while filling your belly,
Would you trade your egg sandwich for a bowlful of jelly?

It was so hard to send you out there on your own
Knowing I wouldn’t be there. My, how you’d grown!
I hoped that I’d given you all the tools you would need
To take these first steps into the world and succeed.

Just before I headed off to my room and my bed
I sneaked into yours and kissed your sleep-tousled head.
As I crawled into bed and settled to sleep,
I knew that the next day would be hardest on me.

Copyright © 2015 This West Coast Mommy. All Rights Reserved.

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5 Comments

  • Very sweet!

    Just sent my boy off to start his last year of high school. Time goes by too quickly. And today of all days, my girl decides to sleep in…..lol

  • what a sweet poem , hope your not too sad I know your little one wont be as its so much fun, my 4 year old little girl started school all day in reception class yesterday and is all day now. She seems so young but when I dropped her off and picked her up she looked so happy even though she clamed she didn’t do much and couldn’t remember what she had done. Such a big exciting step for them and for us too.