The moment I wake up Before I put on my makeup, I say a little prayer for you….
(“I Say a Little Prayer,” Bacharach/David) This beginning week of school lends itself to a variety of emotions for families, but I am particularly mindful of those sending a firstborn to school for the first time.
Parents of these children will supersize their prayers the night before and the morning of a day that marks the official release of their sons and daughters into a new world.
It is intentional prayer, specific to the occasion: for safekeeping, for courage, for understanding, and for a welcoming presence for their little ones. Their children will now spend the majority of their waking hours with outside influences.
This childhood rite of passage is a big deal.
It is true that many children in 2025 have already attended daycare or Pre-K. Today both parents or single parents and even grandparents who help out with childcare work outside the home. The separation is not as foreign as it used to be.
But turning five or six and heading off to organized education and structured learning feels different. Our little ones will be eating in a large cafeteria, playing in a loud gymnasium, staring at twenty-two unfamiliar faces, going to the restroom in a public setting, and adapting to lessons involving academic and social skills.
Mornings before leaving for school will be prime time to set the tone for the day with hugs and kisses. Bedtime is the chance to wind down with positive reflections or needed reassurances.
If you are a parent who did not have happy experiences at home as a child, break the cycle. Start anew with your children when it comes to the school experience, making a difference in how their day begins and ends. As a parent, you remain the conductor of their symphony.
Now it’s just time to share the baton with the school staff, most of whom will tell you they have been praying for your children as well.
Keep grandparents on speed dial or an aunt or uncle or sweet neighbor. We have sent our children off to school on first days, too. We get it.
So Mom and Dad, on the walk into the school building this week, clasp your son or daughter’s little hands. And then let go.
More than likely, someone somewhere is saying a little prayer for you, too.
Snyder, Texas, native Sue Jane Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher whose thought-provoking commentary appears occasionally in several West Texas newspapers, including The Texas Spur and The Caprock Courier.
