Zion Elementary School

Yesterday was my daughter's first day of school. I was running around like it was prom. I wanted it to be a smooth transition so I convinced Co-Parent (CP) to dedicate the entire weekend solely to the child: breakfast and lunch in her honor, the playground, and even Chuck E Cheese. My favorite, however, was Back to School shopping at Target where I broke out my phone and started playing the Andy Williams song (from the Staples commercial back in the day) "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." People stared at me, CP disowned me, and I did everything but glide around the store on the back of the cart.

No one was going to steal that moment from me. No one! CP asked, "Why are you so excited? How is this any different than when she went to daycare six months ago?" Infidel. Daycare, like this life, is temporary. Daycare can be taken away. As much as it cost me, it almost was. But public school...that's different. There are laws in place to protect my right to send my child to school. No one can deny me this one. It's guaranteed. Public school is Zion!

When I was little my grandmother used to drag me around to her Senior Club "field trips." There was always some person who would burst into an impromptu testimony. We were in Shoney's one day and the clam chowder must've filled this woman with the Holy Spirit. "My right ankle been bothering me, but that's alright because when I get to Zion...and I sit at the feet of the Master, my ankle won't trouble me NO MORE. They ain't got no gout in heaven, THANK YOU JESUS!" Everyone kept eating as if she hadn't said a thing.

Well, I stayed home for almost three years with my daughter. Life for me "ain't been no crystal stair." If anything, there were times when it was more like falling down a flight of crystal stairs. You've read my posts; it was challenging at times to say the least. I made it through by looking forward to my own personal Zion. On any given day I could've been that woman at Shoney's:

"You know my daughter had a meltdown in the car today and started throwing shoes at me from the backseat like they were ninja stars. The first one caught me off guard and almost made me crash the car on the Beltway. But when she gets to Zion Elementary School...and I look in her teacher's face...there will be no more thoughts of safe dropping her at the fire station...the principal will say, 'Well done thy good and faithful servant!'"

Guess what, y'all. I made it to Zion! Believe it or not, the emotion that overwhelmed me wasn't relief, but hope. I joke about her being a gremlin, but that's my baby. She started her first day of school and now I get to see if all of that time I spent with her pays off. Did I prepare her properly? Even if I did, this milestone signifies a change in my role. It's now my responsibility to cater my knowledge and experience to her needs. Yesterday was her first step on the path to success. I can't walk it for her. Some things I can't even warn her about; she has to learn for herself. I have a little less than 15 years to teach her to fly against the gravity of a world intent on pulling her down.

I'm up to it, and strangely enough I'll miss the days when I never knew what direction a shoe was going to come from.