Back To School Reflections
It’s that time of the year. Back to School prep is in high gear. The store’s are busting at the seams with notebooks, fall fashions and electronics. Are all you moms overwhelmed yet? The lists need to be filled…and then there’s that last-of-the-summer vacation or trip to the cabin! Whew. Makes a girl just want to run and hide, doesn’t it?
Yes, it’s a stressful month and we all just want to get through it and start some “regular” routines, but we need to remember these years are fleeting and we need to devour each and every memory while we can.
I easily remember those August trips to Target, each kid with their “list” in hand, searching for their favorite colored notebooks and folders. Picking out their favorite kinds of pencils. Searching for that ever-elusive item or two (like red felt-tip pens) the store was already out of or didn’t carry, which required another stop. I’d have each of them place their own items in a corner of the red cart so I could help them check off everything as they found it.
By the end of the store visit each year, I needed to reward myself with a little pizza from the in-store concession stand…and slouch over with a little sigh that school supplies for one more year were accomplished!
But the last couple of years, the school supply list has gotten shorter. And the bus stop has gotten more sparse. In fact, last year I called the bus company and let them know they could just take our driveway off their list of stops. Because cars have become the new transportation. And electronics have replaced the washable Crayola markers.
And instead of shopping at Target for school supplies, we’ve been hitting the church sales and thrift stores for dorm room decor and first-time apartment kitchen essentials!
Which, I’m happy to say… is kind of fun;)
If I can just get through the dump and run stage:
(Like I experienced this weekend:0 Ever washed and folded about 10 loads of soggy, stinky laundry in one day?)
No, I don’t really miss the cart-full of folders, pencils, markers, kleenex and wet wipes.
But I do miss the kids that I only get to see for a quick 48 hours of turn-around time, all the while spent laundering and packing for them to be sent off to the next place.
But I guess that’s the goal of motherhood. To launch our kids into the big wide world to be able to take care of themselves. And to learn how to use their gifts and talents they were blessed with.
So when the frustration and stress of this busy back-to-school month starts getting to you, remember these are special years. Years to be treasured and pondered over. Because the everyday stuff of life is what you’ll wish you could get back years from now.
I’m going to be patient with the piles around my house for the next couple of weeks. Because soon the house will be much quieter…and hopefully cleaner.
And then I can get back to some of the projects I want to accomplish this fall.
What stage of motherhood are you in? Or maybe you’re a teacher that’s anticipating the school year to begin again? Does this month stress you out?
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Lora, I really enjoyed your post and once again we are on the same page, my Friend! (See my latest post.) Thanks for sharing @ Vintage Charm
Thanks, Cecilia. I will check it out;)
It’s always good to hear a proud mama story, Fonda. Thanks for sharing your heart:)
I’m a mother of a 43-year-old daughter. She has plenty of children of her own. The 8 of them range from about 24 down to 4, so she sees some off to work and makes sure the others stand in front of the house for the bus. I think she said she started running the kids to and from school because they spent way too much time on the bus in the morning AND afternoon. In the winter, they would leave in the dark and come home in the dark.
I had to let my daughter go fairly early. She was pregnant by 15, and had her oldest at 16. She was responsible, though. She and her boyfriend got themselves off to the bus and on to school. After the baby was born, I had her during the day. My daughter expressed her milk at school, and I used it the next day. It all worked out for us. The two of them graduated from high school on time. 2 years after their first, they had a second. Soon after that, they got married and went on to have 3 more children. Eventually, that relationship failed and they divorced. Way after that, she met and married another man she had worked with. They had three children together. It is the most wonderful relationship that they have, much like mine with my partner of 23 years. Her husband slipped right into the father role for the other five, too. They are one big happy family. It was tough at times, and I am so proud of her.