From the time my first baby girl was born, I had a penchant for grabbing the arms of beloved little ones — especially teensy tiny ones — holding them above the babe's head and professing the sing-song sentiment of how big she or he is.

Brianna Lee is SO big! I'd trill.

Then, Megan Rae is SO big!

Andrea Lynn is SO big!

Followed by Bubby, then Mac, then Jak being oh SO big, too, as each tiny one grew into being not so tiny at all.

I haven't sing-songed the SO Big song in quite some time. Yet, when I saw on Facebook the photo Megan posted last week of Bubby and Mac's first day of school — Bubby entering third grade, Mac full-week morning prekindergarten* — my first thought was, "Bubby and Mac are SO big!"

brothers back to school

Oh, how I would have loved to nudge their arms up above their heads and whisper exactly that to them that day, right there before they entered their classrooms.

As a long-distance grandma, though, it wasn't to be.

And it wouldn't have been anyway as my so-big boys would have thought Gramma so weird and embarrassing.

Gramma can definitely be weird. And embarrassing, too. But sheesh, my love for those cutie pies is SO big, it's SO very hard to contain sometimes.

Perhaps it's a good thing — for them — this grandma lives more than 800 miles away. Chances are high I'd be hankering to shower my embarrassing weirdness upon them each and every day.

Cheers to a super new year for my so-big schoolboys!

*Regular readers of Grandma's Briefs may recall that Mac enjoyed prekindergarten this past school year and at five years old, could be entering kindergarten this year. Though he may seem SO big to me, Mac's actually still such a little squirt that despite unquestionable academic readiness, Mommy and Daddy made the wise decision to give the summer baby another round of pre-K — with afterschool academic enrichment with former teacher Mommy — to ensure his social readiness before entering full-day Kindergarten with a capital K next year.