My littlest one entered kindergarten last week with enthusiasm. I thought that I would be a mess, but instead a weight has been lifted!

My baby is in school. On the first day I followed her to the door of her classroom interviewing her with my "Flip" video camera. I asked her how she felt as she approached the door. I even threw out suggestions. nervous, excited, anxious. She scowled and waved the camera away like Amy Winehouse being chased by the paparazzi after a long night of partying. In retrospect I was probably a little too aggressive even for a mother watching her little bird leave the nest.

I continued to walk her into the classroom for several days until I was sure she had the routine down.

"Where does you lunch go?" I asked, prodding her.

"I don't know, Mommy," she said with her palms outstretched to God.

"How about your tote bag? Do you know where to sign in?" I continued.

"Nope," she said with a grin punctuated by two dimples and sparkling blue eyes.

Yesterday, for the first time, I finally let her out at the carpool circle with her older sister and watched anxiously in the reasrview mirror as they walked together towards the classroom. Instead of the sadness I thought I might feel I felt only pride. I realized that she did indeed have wings.