Sorry I haven’t been sharing much lately. The end of the school year is always a crazy-busy time. In the last two weeks of school, I had two class field trips, Muffins With Mom (a thing where you have muffins at the school because muffins at home would just be too simple), Field Day (which is standing around watching kids play games and stuff outside because I don’t get enough of that at home either) and three different class picnics. Okay maybe I didn’t make ALL of those. But most.
I also had to get my hair cut and colored because it is almost summertime. I went blonde. Well, blondish. I have highlights now. Which at first was shocking. But now I have an appointment to get more highlights because I am not quite sure yet if blondes do actually have more fun. I need more research.
I also had to get a tooth refilled because one of my fillings just decided to give up and fall out. It actually fell out six months ago but if you are a mother then you know that it takes time to get around to these things. Because, well, read all of the stuff above again. I finally got around to it though.
Teachers Appreciation week was also in May. I had to celebrate my kids teachers because they deserve all of our appreciation. Teaching is a calling. And one that I was not called to do. And you as a parent should feel pretty good about that fact.
Along with all of these things, we also had baseball games and practices. Then there were flag football games and practices. Oh and dance recital pictures. Because it is almost dance recital time. Our ninth dance recital to be exact.
I had to take my daughter to the dentist. She got braces a few months ago so now we are involved in that whole process. Oh and my son had to have four teeth pulled. That was fun. Maybe if his teeth weren’t such overachievers. His baby teeth just weren’t coming out. We were told that his teeth have “very large roots.” Which sounds horrifying but at least that is also over and done. Thanks to the month of May.
I had several friends and family with children who graduated high school this month. I had the honor and joy of selecting the perfect card and the perfect gift for the graduates. And by perfect gift I mean deciding how many zeroes went on that check. Because there are only so many times in one’s life when people throw money at them. Remember that graduates. No one throws money at me anymore. No one.
So as you can see I have been busy. And chances are you have been very busy as well. Maybe you didn’t even notice that I was gone.
My kids are officially on summer break now. No school until August.
I am home with them for the duration. This year seems a little different from summers in the past though. None of my children are babies anymore. My youngest is now seven. They are more like actual small adults now. Adults in the making, anyway.
They have four very different personalities. I am in a different phase of parenting it would seem. I am looking forward to getting to know them this summer. I am in the middle. I don’t have little ones who need my constant attention. Yet, I don’t have grown kids who need very little of my attention. I like the middle. They need me sometimes.
They are old enough to be great fun. We laugh and sing. We dance in the kitchen as I prepare dinner. We watch TV shows together. We throw a baseball, back and forth,in the yard. We ride bikes. We swim in the neighborhood pool.
They do enjoy playing with their friends of course. But they are too young to jump into a car and go anywhere. They are just home enjoying their summer with me.
When my kids were babies it was stressful at times. When I brought the last one home from the hospital, the oldest was only four years old. There were days when I didn’t think that I would be able to pull it off. But I did. Somehow.
Now we are in the middle. And everyone tells me that I had better enjoy it. That before long they will all be gone. Off living their own lives. And I know that is true. Believe me. But I am tired of people telling me that. Just let me have this time. Let me have the middle.
I try to take in every single day. Every milestone. Change happens when we aren’t looking. My daughter is five foot tall. How did that even happen? She is practically adult sized. But she isn’t an adult. Not yet.
I still have things that I want to teach my children. And as their parent, they still have plenty to teach me. I didn’t know anything about being a parent before them. When they handed me my daughter in the hospital, I just blankly stared at her. Now what, kept echoing through my mind. I am actually experiencing their journey to adulthood. How fortunate am I?
This summer I will not waste a single drop. I will not take it for granted. Life is about seasons. There is a time for everything. When my kids were little, I told them almost every move that they needed to make. As they get older, they tell me. They show me. I see glimpses every day of the adults that they will one day be. All four so different.
I will not take the middle for granted. And I will not worry about the days when they will leave the nest. I will not live in fear of blinking my eyes and them being gone. Because if I do that, I will not be right here in the present. I am right here, spending my days with four of the most interesting people, that I will ever have the pleasure of loving.
As a parent, I am in the middle. Time will teach me. It will show me how to bend and the ways that I must let go. The changes that I must make. Time will teach me my evolving role as Parent. My kids will show me just how they need me, in the different seasons. This parenting gig is mine for the rest of my life.
This is going to be a great summer.
I have a stepson who is graduating on Friday. It makes my heart swell and weep at the same time.
This is my way of saying “I feel ya!” 🙂
I’m glad you do!!!!!