I Trust You'll Treat Her Well...

Instead of a usual post, today I'm honoring the first day of school.  Only the Drama Queen is going back today, since the Wild Man is in Kindy and they start a few days later.

Below is a poem that a virtual friend from iVillage would post on the first day of school each year.  There is no author listed, but as far as I'm concerned, I give full credit to my friend.  If anyone knows the author, please let me know so I can give them credit for a poem that brings me to tears every new school year...

I Trust You'll Treat Her Well


Dear World,

I bequeath to you today one little girl in a
crispy dress.. with two brown eyes...and a happy laugh that ripples all day
long, and a batch of light brown hair that
bounces in the sunlight when she runs.
I Trust You'll Treat Her Well.


She's slipping out of the backyard of my
heart this morning and skipping off down the street to her first day
at school. And never again will she be completely mine...
Prim and proud, she'll wave a young and
independent hand this morning, and say goodbye and walk with
little-lady steps to the nearby schoolhouse...

Gone will be the chattering little girl who
lived only for play, and gone
will be the delightful little gamin who
roamed the yard like a proud
princess with nary a care in her little world.
Now, she will learn to stand in lines...and
wait by the alphabet for her name to be called...
She will learn to tune her little-girl ears
for the sound of school bells, and for deadlines...
She will learn to giggle and gossip... and to
look at the ceiling in a
disinterested way when the little boy across
the aisle sticks out his tongue.
Now she will learn to be jealous...and now
she will learn how it is to feel hurt inside...
and now she will learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps
on a summer day and
watch while an ant scurries across a crack in
the sidewalk... Or will she have time to pop out of bed with
the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew.

Now she will worry about important
things...like grades...and what dresses to
wear...and whose best
friend is whose. Now she will worry about the
little boy who pulls her hair at recess time... and staying after
school...and which little girls
like which little boys...And the magic of
books and knowledge will soon
take the place of the magic of her blocks and
dolls.

And she'll find her new heroes. For five full
years I've been her sage
and Santa Claus...her pal and playmate...her
parent and friend. Now,
alas, she'll learn to share her worship and
adoration with her teachers (which is only right).
No longer will her parents be the smartest,
and greatest in the world.
Today, when the first school bell rings,
she'll learn how it is to be a
member of the group...with all its
privileges, and, of course, its
disadvantages, too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies
don't laugh out loud...or
keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms...or
watch ants scurry across the
cracks in a summer sidewalk...
Today, she'll begin to learn for the first
time that all who smile at her
are not her friends. That "the group" can be
a demanding mistress...
and I'll stand on the porch and watch her
start out on the long, long
journey to becoming a woman.


So WORLD, I BEQUEATH TO YOU TODAY ONE LITTLE
GIRL in a crispy dress, with two brown eyes, a happy laugh that
ripples all day long, and a batch of light brown hair that bounces in
the sunlight when she runs.

I Trust You'll Treat Her Well