I may have bribed him. We were going to the doctor for his four year well-child check, and our nurse had said that the “kindergarten shots” could be given at any time between ages four and six.

I was already feeling so very behind, like a completely unprepared preschool mom. I mean, who waits until the Thursday before preschool to get the physical done?

I do, apparently. It’s a good thing he’s my last kid, because at this rate, the next one would’ve gone after school started.

So anyway, I told him that if he was very, very brave at the doctor, he could get a dinosaur toy like his big brother.

We had our last lunch out together before he goes off to school, and then made our way to the store to pick out an I’m going to be super brave today toy.

Except he chose not to get a dinosaur, and went instead for the soldier and the jet.

As we sat outside waiting for the big kids to come out of the school, I just watched him, telling everyone who came close enough all about his jet and its missiles. It dawned on me that from now on, after this short weekend, I’ll be sitting by myself, waiting for all four to come out of the school at the end of the day.

He won’t have been there as long, only a few hours, but he’ll be there, ready to go home and tell me about his day.

And I think I’ve made peace with that.

He’s ready. I’m ready.

We can do this.

Through The Lens Thursday is a self-improvement photography project that Alison and I are doing this year (again!).

Don’t forget to join our Flickr group or share your own posts if you’d like to follow along and work on your own photography! And use the hashtag #throughthelensthursday to connect with others working on it, too.

Next week’s prompt is BREAKFAST.