To My Sweet Two-Year-Old

I woke up with an uneasy feeling today. I am sending Kingston off to a new school this morning. I am back to work next week but wanted his first day to be on a day I was around just in case (“just in case” of what haha). I am an educator, have only ever studied education, and have only ever had that as my job since age 21. I know, first hand, the importance of school, even at age 2. Social interactions, sharing, fun, routine, structure, new songs, doing things in a group: reading, lunch, clean up, games, resting. But, I unfortunately know that in this climate, school can also be detrimental to some of our most important values: creativity, imagination, playfulness, risk taking.

I don’t have much choice at the moment though, as I have to work, and so, Kingston will head into school today. I want him to go in remembering who he is and what he loves. I want him to be kind and try new things and take risks and stand up for himself. For a fun and calm morning, on our main work/play table, I set out some reminders of the best parts of our summer together:

-His absolute favorite book that, no matter how many other books we read at bedtime, this one has to be the last.

-Some dollhouse figurines. Our dollhouse was the best purchase of the summer. It became one of Kingston’s favorite toys and he has enjoyed sharing it with kids age 1 to age 9 and adults (as it came on both of our week-long vacations with us). I bought two different sets of figures to blend them into a multiracial family.

-Marbles! I set out marbles one day a few weeks ago on his Ikea table that has a little lip around the edge so they don’t fall off. It quickly became an obsession. He now takes them out regularly to roll them around and watch them knock into each other and spread. Science in motion!

-Our small Grimms rainbow and Grimms rainbow people. I set these out to remind him of all the open-ended play we enjoyed: building, pretending, trying, creating, experimenting.

-Pieces found in nature. We amassed a large collection of treasures this summer from the beach and the park and other places we went. These shells and pinecones and pieces of wood are to remind him of the adventures we took to find these items.

-Candle. If you follow me on IG, you know that we now have candles as part of a few daily routines (mealtime, bedtime, and sometimes quiet time). Candles such a big part of our summer that I couldn’t leave one out.

I don’t know what he will to with this set up. Maybe he will play with it or maybe he will just look at come back to it when I pick him up from school this afternoon. I will talk to him about our summer memories. Even with a large vocabulary, he is still only 2, so he doesn’t have the words to share every memory. But I know he listens intently and, sure as the sky is blue, he understands everything I say. I just hope it reminds him to stay playful, creative, talkative, imaginative, kind, and thoughtful as he walks into a room of two year olds that he doesn’t yet know.