Today is August 5th, and it is the 1st day of school here in Georgia. Four of my 5 children will spend
their day meeting new friends, a new teacher, being busy with many activities, and for 3 of them...a ride on the big yellow school bus. I hugged & kissed them before they disappeared from my sight. I exclaimed with excitement how big they are now and how happy I am for them. I watched the boys protectively let Hannah board the bus ahead of them, this being her very first school bus ride. I felt Lily's soft kiss as she climbed out of the car at preschool, her backpack looking larger than herself. One by one they each disappeared from view, and then the tears came...in a flood. I miss them so much already. Poor Gabby had to listen to me boo-hoo all the way home. And on the way home, I found myself scanning the road for a place to turn around. I wanted to whip the car around, feeling like it must surely be a mistake to have Lily at preschool all day already. Wasn't she just cradled in my arms only yesterday? When did she grow up and become able to be at school an entire day without me? And when did Hannah graduate from preschool to being a full fledged kindergartener...attending "big school"? Gabby was my salvation, as I walked into our home, so quiet and still. The noisy house which rarely sounded peaceful at any one given time was now absent of all happy noises & hustle and bustle. Gabby must have sensed my extreme lonliness. She kept walking over to me, as I sat down on the kitchen floor to just be nearer to her. She gave me several hugs. And yet, even as I hugged sweet Gabby, I felt myself missing the constant stream of conversations, the questions, and even the squabbles. Some moms look forward to the beginning of school because they desire the peacefulness of their time alone. I found myself very lonely, and missing the many voices that make even simple phone conversations hard to hear. Somehow school snuck up on me. I realize now that it happened in the little things...when I took the children to get haircuts last week, when I took them all school supply shopping a couple weeks ago. Somehow it had all led up to this. And it caught me by surprise. I miss them so much....and in 1 hour and 10 mins they will all be back home with me, in my arms....not that I'm counting :)
their day meeting new friends, a new teacher, being busy with many activities, and for 3 of them...a ride on the big yellow school bus. I hugged & kissed them before they disappeared from my sight. I exclaimed with excitement how big they are now and how happy I am for them. I watched the boys protectively let Hannah board the bus ahead of them, this being her very first school bus ride. I felt Lily's soft kiss as she climbed out of the car at preschool, her backpack looking larger than herself. One by one they each disappeared from view, and then the tears came...in a flood. I miss them so much already. Poor Gabby had to listen to me boo-hoo all the way home. And on the way home, I found myself scanning the road for a place to turn around. I wanted to whip the car around, feeling like it must surely be a mistake to have Lily at preschool all day already. Wasn't she just cradled in my arms only yesterday? When did she grow up and become able to be at school an entire day without me? And when did Hannah graduate from preschool to being a full fledged kindergartener...attending "big school"? Gabby was my salvation, as I walked into our home, so quiet and still. The noisy house which rarely sounded peaceful at any one given time was now absent of all happy noises & hustle and bustle. Gabby must have sensed my extreme lonliness. She kept walking over to me, as I sat down on the kitchen floor to just be nearer to her. She gave me several hugs. And yet, even as I hugged sweet Gabby, I felt myself missing the constant stream of conversations, the questions, and even the squabbles. Some moms look forward to the beginning of school because they desire the peacefulness of their time alone. I found myself very lonely, and missing the many voices that make even simple phone conversations hard to hear. Somehow school snuck up on me. I realize now that it happened in the little things...when I took the children to get haircuts last week, when I took them all school supply shopping a couple weeks ago. Somehow it had all led up to this. And it caught me by surprise. I miss them so much....and in 1 hour and 10 mins they will all be back home with me, in my arms....not that I'm counting :)
