By now most children and young adults around the world are back in school. What a bittersweet feeling to leave a pre-schooler for the first time. What?s a mommy to do when her child is screaming ?Mommy, Mommy, please don?t leave me.? Being the older granny that I am I can assure you that the child will adjust quicker than the mommy will.
I have to reflect back to the days when my only daughter took her baby steps to maturity. Daycare, kindergarten, grade school, high school, thankfully she attended college locally so I didn?t have to go through that separation anxiety. I can only imagine the fear of a parent when they drive off leaving their child a hundred miles from home with a bunch of strangers.
Will the child get involved with the wrong crowd? Are they rooming with a drug addict or thief? Will they eat right, and do their laundry? Letting go and letting your child grow is a very stressful thing.
The beginning of school is a traumatic time for parents. Not only do they have to let their children step out of the nest and fly solo, they have to reassess their own life. Stay at home mothers can have that extra cup of coffee, sit back and watch the Good Morning Show, maybe even go back to bed after dropping their
children off at school. Or, they can put on their walking shoes and take a two-mile stroll.
Did you know that walking is good for the soul? It can be a time of prayer, a time of reflection, a time of planning, or you can just let your mind wonder. Whatever you decide to do with your days now that the children, or, grandchildren are away at school for a few hours, do it without guilt. A mom needs to be revived. She needs to take a few minutes a day to breathe, to look at the wind rustle the leaves, to stop and listen to her inner voice.
Being a parent is the hardest job you?ll ever have. So, like with any job a person should take a lunch break and a couple of ten minute snoozes when they get the chance. When life is all said and done, and you know your time on earth is dwindling, will you think, ? I need to wash one more load of clothes,? or, will you brew that second cup of coffee, go out onto the porch and watch the morning mist rise and the garden spiders spin her webs?
Life is so short. As I approach my mid-fifties I have a couple of more things I?d like to check off my bucket list. So now that my granddaughter is back in school I?m going to get busy, but not before sipping one more cup of coffee.
(Thanks to all my blog readers who have been patient while I?ve been spending time with my granddaughter this summer. The new shipping date for The Manger Mouse is September 11th. Also, for all parents who sent their child off to college you might want to read my last novel, The Color of My Heart.)
