I anxiously dropped my son off at camp in the summer of 2020. Pandemic protocol dictated that we say goodbye in the car and my child unceremoniously got out and left to join a group of counselors and kids visibly and loudly experiencing joy, wonder and excitement. There was no walk to the cabin, no organizing and setting up his things and no mom reassurance. To my surprise, when I returned to pick up my son three weeks later, he somehow made his bed, found his things, and survived – no, thrived – at camp. We said goodbye to pandemic rules when the world healed, however, wise camp directors kept this one change. They discovered the campers – especially the little ones – did so much better leaving their parents than they did when the parents left them. They noticed it mimicked the rhythm of being dropped off at school.

Megan Irwin provided us with a vision of a light house as we discussed sparking curiosity at the start of this school year.  I see you,  the parents, as that light house.  As your child leaves your car they are going toward something and leaving you.  It occurs to me that it is a very different feeling than you leaving them.  As they glance back on their way to adventure and growth, they can be reassured that their lighthouse is still there.  And sure enough, at the end of the day, there you are, waiting and reassuring them that when they are done, you will be right where they left you.

So I encourage you in these first few weeks of school, even when they are tired, timid and tearful, to keep doing the hard work of letting them leave you at carpool.  Meanwhile, you can trust us to do our part to facilitate that joy, wonder and excitement they run to.