I’m looking forward to preschool starting again this fall. As much as I’ve loved having my son home with me full-time (his summer camp ended in early August, so I’ve been Camp Mom ever since), he’s ready to get out of the house on a more consistent basis. Besides, my son loves going to school. He enjoys learning, exploring new concepts, and interacting with other kids and adults.
But on my end, I’m also looking forward to reconnecting with some of my fellow preschool moms—moms who I’ve come to regard not just as the other parents who drop off their kids, but as friends willing to go the extra mile to help each other out.
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This past year, I struggled to schlep my newborn twins to-and-from my son’s school, so much so that at one point I actually considered pulling him out. But I have to say, pretty much every time I pulled into the parking lot, at least one mom, if not more, would approach me in my minivan and ask if she could be of help. In fact, I can’t even count the number of times I had another mom walk my son into school or stay with my girls in the car so I wouldn’t have to drag them out in the cold.
Over the course of the past school year, my fellow moms and I managed to form a sort of sisterhood where we’d all help each other out so instinctively you’d think we’d been doing it for years, not weeks or months.
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When a child in my son’s class fell down on his way into school one morning, I saw another mom run inside to grab bandages while a second reached for a consolation sticker from her purse. When a fellow mom forgot her daughter’s lunchbox at home and had to leave straight for a doctor’s appointment, another parent instantly volunteered to go back home, make her a sandwich, and deliver it back to the school in time for lunch. When my (clearly not so high in quality) stroller busted on me one morning, several people rushed over and helped me snap it back together. And when another mom fell victim to the classic parental fail of forgetting an umbrella on a very rainy day, I didn’t hesitate to give up my rain jacket so that she could keep her son dry.
It’s not that I find the concept of helping each other out so astounding—this is, after all, the kind of thing that nice people just do. But what amazes me is that it’s not like we’ve all been friends for ages. For the most part, none of us knew each other before the school year started. But from the beginning, we’ve all stepped up to help each other out, and I think that’s pretty darn awesome. And I’m really excited to start doing it again come September.
