First day go away, and come again, no other day.

I have been dreading tomorrow for so long. I tried to deny it and ignore it but the first day of school always comes. I usually enjoy the first day of school. I won't say I love it because I don't. I hate getting up in the mornings. I am a true night owl. I'd stay up all night and sleep all day if I could and I did do that some this summer.  So while I don't love the first day of school, once I'm up I generally enjoy it.  But not this year. This year I hate it. This year I wish it would just go away and die a quiet death.
Why do I hate it this year, you might ask?  Because this year it is taking my baby away from me. She leaves my elementary school and starts middle school tomorrow. Instead of being down the hall from me, she will be across town, and while that may only mean five minutes away, in my heart it might as well be an ocean. In my entire teaching career, I have never been away from her. She has always gone to work with me and been there at the end of the day. She is so excited to walk home by herself tomorrow and all I can think about is that she won't be bouncing into the library at the end of the day and sit in my lap and tell me about her new teacher.
My son is also growing away from me in his own way. He got his license this summer and he will be driving to and from school himself tomorrow.  So, I will be driving home alone tomorrow, for the first time in eight years.   I really don't want to think about that first ride home alone.