It’s officially official. Summer is over for another year. My kids are all back in school, except the oldest, who started a new job this week. There have been many Septembers in my career as a mama, and most times I have welcomed the new school year. I enjoyed gathering and labelling the school supplies, organizing backpacks, and baking school snacks in the cooler fall mornings. But this September has come and I find myself wanting to stretch August out forever. Why can’t we just have more summer? Why can’t I have my children around me for just a bit longer? Why?
Well, it’s time to snap out of it! I can’t hold my kids back. Nor do I want to. I want them throw off the bowlines and catch the trade winds in their sails; to explore and discover…I guess I just don’t want to be left behind. So I’m taking a deep breath and I am going to stand close by as my little ones grow and learn. I am going to grow and learn with them. Change is good. Change is good. It’s my new mantra. Nothing can progress if everything stays the same. Change is good. Do I sound convinced? *wink.
Any of you parents out there experiencing the same sort of anxiety? I’d love to hear about it. It might help this mama deal with the notion of all her kids being gone all day. Sigh.
Change is good. Change is good. Change is good.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Arlee, Small Potatoes
Small Potatoes 
My big boy started Kindergarten this hear, so we are at the beginning of this journey. I could not be more proud of him, and I haven’t been too sad, although I do miss him during the day! It helps that i have a three month old at home with me all day to love on and play with one-on-one. Otherwise I might be more of a mess! I think sending off my littlest (and last!) though! I try to remind myself, “You can’t hold them back from the experiences of life, if the only reason is because you will miss them.” Hugs to you! Enjoy your “smalls” no matter how big they get. 🙂
*sending off my littlest (and last!) might be harder though! Sorry for the typos!!
Arlee, you may not be my youngest small but you may be my smallest small and I will always miss you and your siblings from time to time so in between those times I’m taking time for myself and your Dad. I know that you will spend your time wisely and with fun and great abandon with or without your smalls at your side! Love you! Your Mumma!
Great. And I shall chant too even if in a different context, change is good, change is good. Hopefully.
I can’t lie, I counted down the days until the first day of school. I do however refuse to give up the time laying beside my daughter listening to her reflect on her day. The stranger the better! I stay close this way and I need it. Thanks for your post!
My little boy is starting preschool this week. I know that’s only the first tiny step on the huge staircase of their independent lives, seperate from us moms (and dads)…but it’s bittersweet nonetheless! So excited to watch him grow but, as everyone said it would, it’s going so fast!
Awww…preschool is such a fun time!! Enjoy it, mama!