Thursday, September 8, 2011

Transitions--GBE2 #15 (Children/Parents)

I've been struggling all week with the Parent/Child topic.  Surprising right?  Having four children ought to have made me able to knock this one right out of the park.  Maybe it's the overabundance of material I have at my disposal.  Whatever it is, I've been procrastinating all week...knowing that I didn't want to skip two weeks in a row...hoping that I'd be inspired by something.

Note to inspiration:  I'm ready whenever you are.  I'm waiting patiently.

I'm also in a big hurry patiently waiting for school to start.

All this rain that upstate New York has been getting has caused many roads to flood.  Yesterday--the official first day of school--was cut short and school closed at about ten-thirty.  This morning, we started out with a two-hour delay and quickly changed into a school closure within a half hour.

I understand that there were many roads flooded and driving conditions were unsafe.  But for the love of muffins....I am beyond ready for the school year to begin!

I don't blame the school.  Mother Nature--this one is entirely on you!

This is my first school year without any children home.  This is the first year I will be blissfully alone.

I feel independent and free.

I also feel ridiculously old!

When I started this whole 'Mom' thing, I was a completely inept twenty-five year old.  My brand new boyfriend had a three year old that needed mothering and I had absolutely no clue what to do. 

Two months later I was pregnant. 

We were a mess!.  Thrown together by lust...held together by love.  We struggled every day to learn how to be a family.  One day, without us even realizing--we started making sense. 

Then just four months after the arrival of our beautiful Miss Addison--we found out that we were going to have another bundle of joy.  Our 'happy accident'...my little Bear arrived thirteen and a half months after his older sister.

Life was whirlwind of diapers, bottles and toys.  Temper tantrums and snuggles.  Nickelodeon and PBS kids.  Addy and Bear proved to be inseparable--partners in crime.  Addy was the brains and Bear was the muscle--he'd go along with whatever scheme her little toddler brain cooked up.  I still have no idea how we made it through with our sanity intact.  And to think that some parents have their kids that close together--on purpose!

One by one, they started to head to school.  My kid-free days were almost here! 

What's one more?  Sure, that's what we'll do!  And just before Bear entered pre-k, we welcomed Mathias to the family. 

It was an entirely different experience just having one baby at home during the day.  Mathias' babyhood was more relaxed and way less stressful.  It's probably the time period that I've enjoyed most of all.

And now, my baby is going to kindergarten.

Where did all this time go?  Yesterday I was in my mid-twenties and childless.  Today I'm swiftly approaching my 36th birthday and sending my youngest baby off to school. 

Nathan was just three the other day--I swear!  And tomorrow (Mother Nature willing), he'll be starting his first full day of high school.  The same little boy who used to snuggle up with me and take turns reading pages of the Lemony Snicket books now is as tall as me and needs to shave!

Bear and Addy seemingly overnight went from being my terrible toddler twosome to being almost nine and ten.  A fourth and fifth grader! 

Who are these kids??  Where did my babies go??

Who's this old chick that looks back at me in the mirror everyday? (I don't know...but she looks fabulous!)

Hopefully, the weather has subsided enough for the kids to actually go to school.  The best parts of the school season are calling to me and I'm itching to reach out and grab them.

But I'm very somber in the realization that this marks a big transition.  One more step on the way until the day they each walk out the door.

Tomorrow morning, I will wish each one of the bigger kids to have a great day and then I'm going to grab Mathias (He doesn't start until Monday) and my special blanket.  So we can settle in for a big snuggle session. 

Because I'm not letting go just yet.

7 comments:

  1. Wonderful post, love it!!
    And what an amazing phrase - "thrown together by lust, held together by love". One day I'll write a novel with that title :-)

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  2. How sweet this one is! I do so remember the day my baby started school. I believe I cried the whole 3 or 4 hours he was gone. Now he's in that same spot with his little girl starting school this week! That one made me cry, too! Love being the mom and now the grandmom...seriously.

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  3. I followed the bus to and from school. Yep. I did it both ways. It's hard to first give up so much of your baby to someone else!

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  4. I am experiencing the same thing as you this year because my baby has left the nest and went to kindergarten. Wonderful post!! I loved it! I want to let you know also, that you have won an award!!! Please go to the following to pick it up!! You rock!

    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/2011/09/leibster-award.html

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  5. Like Paula, this spoke to me: "thrown together by lust, held together by love."

    There's something wonderful/incredibly painful about our babies going off to school. Parenting is bittersweet, every step of the way.

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  6. Steph, Babe I've loved every second of it!

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