Tears of Joy, Despair and Panic - Must Be the Last Day of School
The kids are sitting in their class fidgeting, staring at the clock until that bell rings. And then the shouts of joy can be heard all over the neighbourhood.
But what about the parents and caregivers in the schoolyard?
When my daughter walks out of the door she will be one step closer to grade one. Next year, I won't have her from 11:30 onwards and that is a blessing and a curse. She is ready for more challenging work and a longer time in the classroom. But me? I'm not ready to let her go.
Grade one is the goodbye to babyhood; the first step to the backtalking, peer-loving tweens. Grade one is so often when little kids stop being so little - they give up their imaginary friends, their stuffies and the cute little sayings that linked them to their childhood and turn into kids with a life of their own.
My oldest is going into grade six. I have no words for that. Grade sixes are big and awkward and may even have an interest in the opposite sex. Ugh.
My middle child is heading to grade three, so a little bit of a reprieve on the milestones from him. But then again you never know how a kid will grow up in a blink of an eye.
The sadness gives way to panic when you realize all that unstructured time that the kids crave is really time to tell you that they are bored 1000 times over. Summer is not time off for us parents - between shuttling three kids to three different camps; preparing for weekend getaways or just working to pay for all the camps. There won't be much rest until that school bell rings again in September.
I happen to think that even the kids are feeling a little bit of ambivalence under their jolly goodbyes. Transitions aren't easy for any of us - least of all on us moms.
So, will you be weeping tears of joy or despair as that bell rings?
Want more chaos? Last year I gave some resources on raising boys into men.
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