Today, the kids tromp off to school again, freshly sharpened pencils and neatly stacked paper and backpacks that have yet to be scarred and dirtied by the dragging through buses and shoving in lockers. They have new clothes, shorter hair, bright eyes. It's the best thing about the first day... everything is new.
I'm not one of the parents jumping up and down about school. I love so much about summer. I love not getting up at 5:30am. I love not packing lunches. I love lazing around a pool or floating in the ocean or long family car trips. I love late nights and family movies and Wii bowling tournaments. I love not having to harass anyone about homework. I love the lack of stress. Mostly, though, I love having my kids home. I love taking them places we don't have time to go during the school year. Seeing museums and zoos and hiking through the woods with them. I love the way they talk to me about what's on their minds. And talk. And talk. And talk.
I grieve a little when they go back to school and I lose them for almost all of their waking hours.
But I thrive with schedules, too. I loved being up early this morning and having everything done by nine, and getting to sit at my computer to write and tutor. I love being able to tutor for hours at a time, instead of a small chunk here and a smaller chunk there. While I miss my kids and all the busyness they bring to my day, I do like having quiet time to write again. It's been so long since I've worked on my novel!
Maybe the thing that I love about this fall is that everything is not new. For the first time since my oldest started kindergarten, we have the same school schedule as the year before. The kids are involved in all the same activities, mostly on all the same days. Rather than the pains of learning a new routine, we are sliding back into an old one... something comfortable. They have new teachers, of course, and I have new tutoring and editing jobs, but overall, the broader things are like slipping into a favorite sweater.
Last night, as I kissed each kid goodnight, we mused about what possibilities the year would bring. How can they possibly imagine what amazing things might happen in the next ten months, what amazing people might be in their lives?
It's not that different for adults. Who is to say the kids get all the amazing chances and changes? I hope in the next ten months I am finally finished with this novel - finished, polished, off to an agent. I hope I meet new people in the blogosphere to call friends. I hope I get another short story published. I hope God does something huge in my heart. I hope I am important in someone else's life. I hope I make a difference somewhere.
It's true that every day is the start of the rest of your life. It doesn't have to be the beginning of school, or a birthday, or New Years. It can be any day. It can be today.
What amazing thing do you hope will happen this year? I'll bet whatever it is, something more than you can imagine is on its way.
I'm not one of the ones that are celebrating the return to school. However, I'm not in the day-to-day trenches either :) That said, my wife wasn't celebrating either.
ReplyDeleteI always dreaded going back to school because I loved summers at home so much. My daughter, however, was psyched.
Paul
I'm sure your daughter will have a great year! I can't wait to hear about how much she grows and learns! For some kids - like yours and mine, I think - everything is an opportunity for something exciting. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this inspiring post. I am always looking for reasons to "begin again" and work towards amazing. I sent my boy off to first grade last week. I miss having him home, but oh how likes to fight with his little sister. Now for a little peace and quiet...(until the baby wakes up, that is).
ReplyDeleteThere is a bittersweetness to sending kids off to school. There is quiet, of course, and also knowing that they are going to get to do and learn and experience things that they never could at home - and hopefully mostly in really good ways. :) We miss them, but letting them go is letting them experience life more fully.
DeleteI love this post. I love everything you wrote here.
ReplyDeleteThat is because your life is full of amazing, and you know the joy of seeing your kids find that. :)
DeleteHeidi, another short story published?? I would love to learn where I can read the published one. I had a couple of years of distraction and today is a new day of a new season of life. Thank you for the inspirational post!
ReplyDeleteLynn - it's in the Potomac Review. I've done a very poor job of advertising it. :)
DeleteI've had my years of distraction, as well. Still am having one, I think. But it sure is good to see you back! Welcome to a new day of a new season of life!
I'm with you on the feeling sad that school starts again, especially this year since I sent my oldest away to school, which was one of the hardest things I've done as a parent. But it will be an amazing year for him, maybe not all good, but definitely amazing.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to query, finish editing my next book and start on my third. Glad to be back blogging.
I was just thinking last week how much I'd missed you and your blog! I am starting to face the idea of my son going to college, so I can imagine how heartbreaking and yet thrilling it is for you. As a parent you really want them to have all the great things in life, but it's hard to let them go to do that. :)
DeleteI hope you will share your journey querying and editing and newly writing with us!
I love it when school starts - there's such a feeling of anticipation and hope. While I love the freedom from routine summer brings, I also get tired of it after awhile. I am an autumn and winter person, and I love how it gets dark early and that there's no pressure to go outside, but I can snuggle up in my house all cozy and warm with my family by my side.
ReplyDeleteI hope the low mood soon shifts. I hope you are able to finish your novel and start the querying process.
For me, I've got two books to work on - one has a contract (the POW history book) and the other doesn't (the novel). Which one do you think I'm more excited about? If you said the novel, you'd be right! Alas, no contract on the novel means the other one must come first.
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DeleteThank you, Melissa. I like the feeling of possibility much more than the recent melancholy. :) Maybe it will swing back that way, soon. Praying it will, anyway.
DeleteSomehow the thing we want to do is almost always not the thing we NEED to do. I'm sure you will get to do both in the coming months. I look forward to seeing your finished product!
What an upbeat post! You made me eager to see what this year will bring. I hope you finish your novel. I'm hoping to maybe get a contract....but then I always hope that.
ReplyDeleteYou have a big year ahead of you, Terri! So many amazing things on the horizon! A new home, new writing, maybe a contract... I can't wait to see how God pulls everything together for you!
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