School Bag In Her Hand

Motherhood.
What a change to my life. What a great change.
My daughter was born just over three years ago and in that time I have only spent a few hours here and there without her. I'm so lucky to be a stay at home mom and to share so much of my time with her.
But this is about to end. In fall she will be starting half day preschool and it will be so strange to not have her there each morning. I'm not sure I'm dealing with it very well.
I thought that separation anxiety happened to the child or the mother whose child is about to go off to college or get married. This seems too early to be feeling this. I'm not losing her, just a little bit of our time together.
We are sending her because she is asking to go, she is asking to learn to read, she wants to learn. We spend a lot of time reading, doing arts and crafts, and exploring the garden, but she wants more. I'm also hoping that it helps her learn to interact with other children better. Right now when we go to group playdates she spend most of her time with me rather then with the other kids, even though she says she wants to play.
What brought this up? I went to see Mamma Mia, the movie, with some new friends in MOMS club. When the scene with "Slipping Though My Fingers" came on I almost cried.

"Schoolbag in hand
She leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile"

It is kind of funny in a way, because I thought that I would be so happy to have some free time. Me time. Time to get things done that I never have time for. But as it becomes more real I'm feeling more anxiety then anything.

I remember holding her small baby hand like it was yesterday. Does it have to happen so quickly? Remember to saver every moment you can with your children.