It’s the eternal paradox of parenting. It’s Back-To-School time. Are you triumphantly dancing at the freedom or are you grabbing your tissues for your tears? No matter where you fit in that mix – here’s some perspective you won’t want to miss as you prepare yourself and your kids for the new school year.
At the end of the school year – you can’t wait for summer! But by the end of the summer – for me anyway, I’m glad my kids are still alive! But the new school year is always more than just that, it’s a new beginning. A new school start.. The juxtaposition of “Thank GAWD they are back in school” and “Oh wait! You’re growing up so fast – too fast”.…. these bittersweet thoughts always smack you straight upside the head when the new school year rolls around. At least it does for me. So as we get ready to start each new year…. and we watch our kids grow…… what we really see is our hearts walking down the hallway, new backpack and all…. walking one step further away from us…. All the while strengthening their roots… but also one more step towards developing their wings to fly on their own. No matter their age, or their grade: the trepidation is the same, the glances back from them – no words needed, because, while their words say, “Momma, we’re big and growing you know…” ; their hearts and eyes need no words to say, “Momma, Daddy, I’m kinda scared, kinda excited— and I’m trying to act like I don’t need you.” My Precious Babies: From my heart to yours – I am saying the same thing. Here’s reminders to empower YOU and YOUR kids for this school year. Everyday, every moment, my sweet children, I do the best to strengthen your roots…. but all in preparation for your wings to someday soar and majestically fly on your own. But as we know – it’s kind of a Bittersweet and BiPolar time of year – you love the time with your kids during summer, but you also kinda need sanity to start—-errr, I mean, school to start! http://https://youtu.be/NSFjiOQdfxI While we still savor these last scrumptious days of summer like this:And this:
I Trust You Will Treat Her Well
By: Kidd Kraddick
World, I bequeath to you today my one little girl in a crispy dress… with two blue eyes…and a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I Trust You’ll Treat Her Well.
She’s slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning and skipping off down the street to her first day of school.
And never again will she be completely mine.
Prim and Proud, she’ll wave a young and independent hand this morning, and say good-bye and walk with little-lady steps to the nearby schoolhouse.
Gone will be the chattering little hoyden who lived only for play, and gone will be the delightful little gamin who roamed the yard like a proud princess with nary a care in her little world.
Now she will learn to stand in lines…wait by the alphabet for her name to be called…
She will learn to turn her little-girl ears for the sound of school bells, and for deadlines…
She will learn to giggle and gossip…. and to look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue.
Now she will learn to be jealous…and now she will learn to feel hurt inside…and now she will learn how not to cry. No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch while an ant scurries across a crack in the sidewalk.
Or will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss liclac blossoms in the morning dew. Now she will worry about important things….like grades… and what dresses to wear… and whose best friend is whose. Now she will worry about the little things that seem huge but are truly microscopic amidst the big picture.
And she’ll find her new heroes. For five full years I’ve been her sage and Santa Claus…her pal and playmate…her parent and friend. Now, alas, she’ll learn to share her worship and adoration with her teachers (which is only right).
No longer will her parents be the smartest, and greatest in the world. Today, when the first school bell rings, she’ll learn how it is to be a member of a group….with all its privileges, and, of course, its disadvantages, too.
She’ll learn in time that proper young ladies don’t laugh out loud… or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms…or watch ants scury across the cracks in a summer sidewalk…
Today for the first time she’ll begin to learn that all who smile at her are not her friends. That, ‘the group” can be a demanding mistress… and I’ll stand on the porch and watch her start out on the long, long journey to becoming a woman.
So WORLD, I BEQUEATH to YOU TODAY ONE LITTLE GIRL in a crispy dress, with two blue eyes, a happy laugh that ripples all day long , and a batch of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.
I TRUST YOU’LL TREAT HER WELL.
-Kidd Kraddick
Parents, remember – it’s not just a new fresh start to a school year: It’s the next step in your children’s future. Empower them everyday.
Thank the teachers along the way especially....for they are integral in their care and the development of their wings.
In the meantime…. time. Give your babies your TIME. (No matter if they are 3, 10 or 13-years-old.)
YOUR TIME: That’s THE most important currency.
And THAT means more to your children than WORDS can every say.
Blessings to all of you as we move forward in this new school year.
————————————-
LOOK FOR THESE UPCOMING POSTS from THE EMPOWERED MOM:
Ways To Get The Last Blast Out of Summer
and
Back-To-School Tips: Crucial Steps to Ready Your Kids and You!
—————–
Here’s another read you might like as you prepare to send your kids off to school:
Have This Conversation With Your Baby Before Sending Him Back To School