Monday, August 23, 2010

First Day of School

Dylan's first day of 3rd grade was today and the Principal shared this with us parents so I wanted to share this with any parents with Kids going off to school.



Thoughts at the Bottom of a Beanstalk

(Author Unknown)

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack who was about to climb his very first beanstalk. He had a fresh haircut and brand new book bag.

Even though his friends in the neighborhood had climbed this same beanstalk almost everyday last year, this was Jack’s first day and he was a little bit nervous. So were his parents.

Early in the morning they brought him to the foot of the beanstalk. They talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day and how nice his giant would be. For a moment they all stood together, silently holding hands, gazing up at the beanstalk. To Jack it seemed much bigger than it had when his parents had pointed it out on the way to the store last week. His parents thought it looked big too. They swallowed. Maybe they should have held Jack back a year….

Jack walked forward, grabbed a low-growing stem and slowly pulled himself up to the first leaf. Then to the third and soon he had vanished into a high tangle of leaves and stems with never a backward glance at his parents. They stood alone at the bottom of the beanstalk, gazing up at the spot where Jack had disappeared. There was no rustle, no movement, and no sound to indicate that he was anywhere inside.

“Sometimes, they thought, “it’s harder to be the one who waves good-bye than it is to be the one who climbs the beanstalk.”

Jack’s parents wondered how he would do. Would he miss them? How would he behave? Did his giant understand that little boys sometimes acted silly when they felt unsure? They fought down the urge to spring up the stalk after Jack and maybe duck behind a bean to take a peek at how he was doing. “We’d better not. What if he saw us?” They knew Jack was really old enough to handle this on his own. They reminded themselves that after all this was thought to be an excellent beanstalk and that everyone said his giant was not only kind but had outstanding qualifications.

“It’s not so much that we’re worried about him,” they thought, gazing up at the beanstalk. “It’s just that he’s growing up and we’re going to miss him.”

Jack’s parents turned to leave. “Jack’s going to have lots of bigger beanstalks to climb in his life,” they said to themselves. “Today’s the day he starts practicing for them… and today’s the day we start practicing something too; cheering him on and waving good-bye.”

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