Sappy School Post

Time is just series of snap shots. I can never keep up. A new school year is around the corner, and I am baffled every time I step foot in the store and see shelves stocked with school supplies. Didn't this school year just end? That's when I get those butterflies fluttering around in the pit of my stomach, reminding me that in just a month, my oldest child will be heading off to her last year of elementary school. HER LAST YEAR OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! I don't generally get too sappy when an old chapter ends and a new begins, but this one is really going for the heartstrings. My sunshiny, artistic, fashionably late, hilarious, beautiful little weirdo is heading off to the end of an era. I am both excited and sad at the same time. These are the times I realize how bittersweet parenting is. The days are long, but the years are short. I don't know who first said that, but man did they hit the nail on the head! Some days I feel like I just tucked that lanky child into her crib for the night, and then I blinked.

School supply lists are posted and the impending doom of not having done the 5th grade reading is leering over me. I know I can't keep these girls of mine little forever, but can't I keep them little just a bit longer? I take myself back to the exhausting days of infancy and try to remember every detail of their chubby cheeks, sleepy eyes, and adorable yawns. It seems like just yesterday I was changing diapers and teaching those babies their ABCs and bragging about how super smart they were. Now the reality of multiplication tables, division, writing paragraphs and memorizing spelling lists fill our evenings. It isn't fair! I can cry and pout, but the reality is they are growing and I need to get on board. Fast. 

Even though every year is so different than the last, I can hold onto the hope that our relationship will grow stronger. I so miss the days of them learning to walk, writing their names for the first time, and being able to pick out their clothing. I will always have those memories to cling onto in times of stress and feeling like I don't know that preteen standing in front of me. I know as we enter this last, wonderful, crazy year of elementary school (for Kylie) we will have many ups and downs, many exhausted nights, and tons of giggly mornings as we get ready for school. I will take note of every smile, every lunchbox note, and every goodbye hug and kiss I get from this munchkin and I can hold onto the very reassuring feeling that I am not in this alone. And hey, I still have one more to get through elementary school, so if it doesn't go the way I envisioned, I will at least be more prepared next time around!