I have very mixed feelings about school starting next week. I enjoy not having to do the crazy morning routine during the summer. I like having my kids around me(at least most of the time!;)
I feel a little..ok, a lot...overwhelmed with the impending beginning of the school year. I feel like I am not enough mom to go around. I hate feeling inadequate.
The downside of having children that are such a wide age span is that they all have so many different needs. I want to be the mother that each of them needs. Kate's needs are easy in that she just needs me....Kate's needs are hard because she always needs me! Luke is still very attached to me and needy, too. Ellie needs the nurturing that any 9 year old needs...plus a little extra help learning to be organized with her schoolwork and her belongings. She is also approaching that benchmark of beginning to be less of a little girl and more of a preteen. That means those mother/daughter talks about hygiene and body changes need to happen more often. And I want to enjoy these last moments of her "little girl" years.
Peter struggled with behaviors last year and during the summer in school. It makes my stomach knot just thinking about those daily notes coming home again! If he could just do his work without all the behaviors he would learn so much more.
Sarah is going into 8th grade and will have an exciting year heading to a big finale of elementary/middle school. Big changes are coming!
Jon is heading into junior year, a very important year academically. A fact I will be repeating many times over the year. (I've already warned him!) It will be the year we begin exploring choices for his future. Jon is gearing up for soccer season, then basketball season, then volleyball season. I'm gearing up for taxi service!
Andrew is entering into senior year. He has a challenging school schedule, cross country in the fall, working part time, and still needs to do college visits since he continues to flip flop about what he wants to study.(Ugh!) Andrew will need some...hmm..encouragement to stay focused and organized. Another teen with "Big changes coming!"
And, last but not least, Mike will be finishing his second year of community college and graduating with an Associates Degree. Mike will be playing basketball, (which has a completely insane schedule!), as well as taking a full load of classes and working part-time. He still needs to do college visits since he has dragged his feet in looking up information for the four or five schools he has narrowed his list down to. He is still focused on teaching and also hopes to coach basketball. Mike is another teen(who won't be a teen anymore come February!) that needs encouragement to stay focused and organized and with "Big changes coming!"
This will be an exciting year....with lots of changes looming on the horizon. All good things, but change is hard none-the-less! Especially on mom...who is not ready to have her children leave the nest. And, yet, at the same time, I am helping them to do just that. Ironic, isn't it?!?
