I have three kids, all twenty-two months apart. For the past ten years, I’ve begged my husband almost every night for a little break so I could enjoy just a few wee seconds of silence. There were stacks of diapers, mounds of dirty clothes and a sea of dirty dishes that seemed like it would never end. Until now.

Last month, my youngest son Tyler, started Kindergarten. I was so excited in anticipation of him getting to meet new friends at school, and get a chance for him to have another role model in his life. Until I found myself all alone. I sat in our once crazy house, and there was silence. Not just silence for a few minutes, but hours of silence. I could hear the clock ticking, the refrigerator running and even my heart beating.

In that moment, I wanted it all back. I wanted to go back in time and appreciate the time more when I had all my kids at home with me. Cherish the moments more, instead of getting caught-up in the difficulties of raising babies.

I went to the school and watched him giggle with his friends on the school playground. I knew in that moment that I had done a marvellous job on the first part of raising my babies. They are all going into elementary school happy, healthy, well-rounded children.

Now at 3:15, instead of dealing with timeouts and temper tantrums, there are sometimes tears over homework. The chaos is still there at times, just in a different form. Now when my house gets a little wild, I embrace it because it will not be long before the children are out of our house forever.

So what now? Is it time to have another baby?

If your kids are older, do you miss the “baby phase”? What are the best and worst things about sending your children to school?