Family: Tomorrow you start in Reception (a poem for my son)

Tomorrow you start in Reception,

The calendar tells me it’s so.

It’s been scribbled in red for months now,

But wait: where did that time go?

I bought your uniform, your shoes, your PE kit;

Spent hours labelling all of your clothes.

We’ve tried them all on in the front room,

But tell me: where did those weeks go?

We filled up your summer journal,

Covered it with photographs just so.

You smiled as you coloured the pictures,

But hang on: where did those months go?

You tell me you’re scared of tomorrow,

You tell me you don’t want to go.

Truth is, I don’t want you to either,

Because, where did that year go?

See, I want to go back and just keep you.

More than ever, I wish you would know,

You’re my best little friend in the world now,

But wait: where did four years go?

My heart hurts as badly as yours does,

But tomorrow I won’t let it show.

I’ll force a smile and wave you goodbye now,

But tell me: where did my baby go?

You won’t be alone in that classroom,

It’s the one thing I want you to know:

I gave you my heart when I had you;

And to school, with you, it’ll go.