Tag Archives: Kids

Sending My Baby Off to Kindergarten

IMG_20130808_064721_078My baby, child number four, started kindergarten this year and it truly, physically hurt.  I’m not exactly sure why I’ve had such a strong visceral reaction.  I don’t know if it’s because he’s the last one or if it’s because of the grief I’ve been feeling all summer.  Either way, the event has left me with a thin veil of melancholy, which is affecting my overall outlook on life lately.  Six weeks later and I’m still not passed it.  I now have two children in middle school and two in elementary school.  No more toddlers.  No more preschool.  Oh the cruelty of time…”The days are long, but the years are short.”

I’ve been dreading this all summer, but there was no more putting it off.  Cammy is six years-old, and he’s already been held back a year due to a number of factors: his July birthday, his physical size, his speech articulation and his mommy’s inability to let go.  When we attended kindergarten round-up before school started, I swear it felt like I was walking on death row, as I made my way down the hallway to what would be his first elementary school classroom.  I didn’t feel any of the excitement I’d felt when I did that with Hunter, nor any of the anxiety I’d had when I escorted Bear.  I didn’t struggle with bittersweet ambivalence as I’d had when it was Audrey’s turn.  This time, I felt sadness.  I felt old. Continue reading Sending My Baby Off to Kindergarten

Spring is Coming

IMG_20130310_174754I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.  ~Ruth Stout

Spring is coming, I can see it!

I just don’t quite have the spring in my step.

The clocks jumped ahead this weekend and for some reason, it was tough on most of us in the house.  The two early birds in the family were quite grumpy as I shuttled them onto the bus this morning, in the dark.  Another child stumbled down the stairs an hour and fifteen minutes after his alarm went off, practically in tears, insisting that he hated daylight savings time and I had to fix it.  Ah, ok – I’ll get right on that.  I went to wake the last child, only to find him still asleep, in bed with dad!  I practically had to bang pots and pans to get the three of them moving.  Laughing, I told them to man up, it was only an hour!

Well, after everyone was gone and I was making beds, I was overcome with a strong desire to crawl back into bed.  Guess what?  I did!  I slept hard, and woke up guilty.  I have no idea what came over me.  The blanket of exhaustion never really lifted, and the rainy day didn’t help.  Coincidently, I saw an article on the Huffington Post, declaring the Monday after the time change as National Napping Day.  I like it!   Made me feel better, since I got nothing done today.

Anyone else have a tough time getting motivated this morning?