Today is the first day of school for my three kiddos. I now have a freshman, a sixth grader, and a third grader. It was a surprisingly emotional morning for me. I wasn’t expecting to get so verklempt! I was packing lunches and making pancakes, and checking on their getting-ready progress and I kept having to swallow hard and blink, blink, blink! I have a freshman in high school…I was just IN high school! Okay, maybe not JUST in high school.
It is a big day, and I really think a lot of the emotion stems from my my confident-self telling my struggling-self: “Hey, kid, good job! Keep it up, what you’re doing is working! It’s tough, but worth it!” I think we all have those two voices, one that always says, “Hey, you blew it, AGAIN!” and the other one that says, “Nailed it! You rock!” But, this morning I just really felt a heavy sigh of relief and encouragement that NONE of it is wasted! The mistakes are turned into lessons, the hard times make the good times sweeter. The sacrifices make the blessings richer. And, whatever is coming–it’s going to be okay!
All of this sentimental self-indulgence to say: Whether you’re a pumping-milk-working-mom, a give-up-your-career-and-income-stay-at-home mom, a taxi-driving-soccer-mom, a sleep-deprived-need-to-shave-my-legs mom, a two-stops-away-from-crazy-town mom–it all has a place. It all has a purpose. There are no straight-As in the school of life. But there are always make-up tests and revisions on that last assignment. I hope to never graduate, and always look for ways to learn more. Here’s to another year of growing and learning!
This post brought to you by Jenny Leggett, who will be sucking her thumb in the corner, in the fetal position for a bit today.