Kindergarten Bound

In The Ultimate Guide to Parenting (you know...the one that the stork left sitting right on top of your infant's bassinet when he dropped the little darling off on your doorstep) there is a glaring omission. It is an omission I am most unhappy about and I need someone to blame. Why didn't anyone tell me when I began this journey through the forest of fatherhood that time would suddenly develop a crack habit and kick into overdrive?

Tomorrow my daughter finishes her last day of preschool. One fluid summer to come and she will be a starry eyed kindergartner; with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities pertaining thereto.

"But wait!" screams my mind. "We just brought her home from the hospital yesterday! Don't you remember? She fell asleep as soon as the car started rolling. We brought her home, laid her in her new crib, the air smelling of a peculiar mix of baby powder and freshly dried paint. That was just yesterday...wasn't it?"

I have to force myself to remember that no, that wonderfully amazing day was not yesterday. It was five years ago. I have to force myself to remember that the incredibly tiny, amazing baby girl who clutched my thumb with surprising strength with her tiny hand as if to say "daddy, I'm new here and I need to know that you will always be there for me to cling to" is now a five year old wonder, with an imagination and curiosity that are as seemingly infinite as the grains of sand on the beaches we will play on this summer. That, in a few short months, she will set her small red Chuck Taylors onto a path that will one day lead to independence, womanhood, and a family of her own.

She is ready. She has had an excellent education at her preschool. She is friendly, intelligent, and caring. She wants to pick out her own clothes, cut her own meat, and tie her own shoes. She wants to read books to find out why the sun is bright and how music comes out of an iPod. She can't wait to meet new friends to spend hours of time at play with. She is ready.

I am not.

Whose thumb can I clutch?