First day of school

Tuesday was Michael's first day of preschool. We're putting him in 2 days a week, mostly so he gets used the idea of school before he has to go every day next year. This isn't a huge deal to us but it is a huge deal to Matthew. Matthew's 15 months younger and these two play together constantly, so Matthew cries when Matthew goes to his class and then constantly asks about going to get Michael until it's actually time to get him. So now Matthew wants to go to school too. To which I respond, 'No, you don't. You'll have at least 17 years of school once this gets started. Enjoy playing while you can.'

That got me thinking two things. The first is this: 4 years of play, 17 years of school, and then you're ready for life. I've never had this thought before, but does it really take 17 years of formal education (13 without college) to get someone ready to be a productive member of our society? I mean, life is organized around school during those years. Being honest, I had good schooling, but that doesn't completely make sense to me.

And the second was to make me appreciate the 4-5 years we have with the kids before they start this process. Next year, when Michael goes to kindergarten, will be a big deal for me because once Michael goes to school full-time, I feel like we will lose a significant amount of the influence we have over him, and his teachers and peers will gain what we have lost. That scares me. And part of it is that a lot of times it's hard to appreciate the time we have with them now. Parenting three little kids often feels like an act of survival (some days ours... some days theirs) not an act of training and developing kids, and it's not always easy to step back and appreciate how short this time in our lives will be.