We all know how you feel George!
His face perfectly captured the unique emotions of that first day at school, says SARAH VINE
The pictures of Prince George on his first day at school are, I must admit, completely adorable. he has such a sweet, wistful expression on his face as his father hands him over to that (rather too) attractive young teacher at Thomas’s Battersea, the £18,000-a-year London prep school which he will attend for the next nine years.
And all of us parents who remember saying goodbye to our precious little ones at the start of their school journey will recognise that mixture of pride and trepidation that accompanies this milestone.
Prince or pauper, there is something both exciting and scary about watching that little person heading off alone, taking their first steps not just towards an education, but also — and perhaps more importantly — to becoming an individual. Those enormous new blazers and the nervous look in their eyes is enough to melt any mother’s heart.
After all, there are few occasions that are as important in a child’s life than the milestone that is their first day of school.
And whether they manage that walk into the classroom without a backwards glance, or have to be pried away from your side by a kindly teacher at the school gates, the memory of that day comes back instantly to all who witnessed it — be they parent or child.
You know that the journey ahead of them is a big and daunting one, and for all the joy, fun and adventure there will, inevitably, also be pain and disappointment. This is the moment that everything changes. Where the cosy little universe you’ve created in which they’ve only ever been the bright sun around which everything revolves is about to be altered for ever.
At school, they will have to learn what it means to share with others, to be part of a group, to build relationships with teachers and other pupils. They will discover friends but also rivals; they will meet new challenges at an alarming and sometimes exhausting rate.
It’s a big challenge for parents, too. This is the moment you start to lose control of your child.
There is nothing wrong with that: it is part of the normal pattern of human development. But it can be very disconcerting.
Some parents seek to hold onto power, to micromanage the situation. They engineer their children’s friendships, get closely involved in school activities.
These are the ones who become the stalwarts of the PTA, driven as much by the need to stay present in their children’s lives as the desire to help.
But, ultimately, you’re fighting a losing battle.
Your child is taking their first steps alone in the world, and there is not much you can do about it. Soon (not immediately, but eventually), your job as a parent will be done.
I think this is part of the reason the ‘ first day of school’ photograph has become such an obsession.
It’s not just that we live in a visual age, where people share pictures of their most intimate moments without giving them a second thought; it’s that, as humans, we feel a need to connect with each other in this moment of universal experience.
ALL children, sooner or later, start school; all parents experience that mixture of relief and sadness as they watch the back of that little head bobbing off into the crowd, impervious to your gaze.
There is something in these photos of shiny young faces in their pristine, too-big uniforms that also speaks of the hope that springs eternal in each new generation.
And, for me, they are always a little bittersweet. Such innocence and openness in their eyes, such potential — and such terrible fragility, the weight of expectation on their little shoulders. It’s a moment to treasure for ever.