A part of me is in denial that summer is wrapping up. I’m also looking forward to routine, a quieter and cleaner house, and control of the remote. This will be my second year with all 3 kiddos in school. I was struggling last year at this time over sending my baby to K5. If that’s you, you might resonate with this post. I’ll give you a spoiler, it’s going to be okay! Actually, it’s going to be fabulous once you get past the bittersweet parts of watching your babies grow up.
Dear Charlie,
You begin kindergarten in just two weeks. This is going to be new for the both of us. For the first time in 11 years, I won’t have a chubby child in my cart as I run errands. The car will be strangely quiet. Nobody will beg for one more kiss goodbye over the gate of the gym’s kid’s club.
My heart feels a squeeze every time you as me how many more days until school starts. You get a twinkle in your eye because you want to hear me say AGAIN how much I’m going to miss you.
If you are new to the blog, my children are 12, 10, and 6. I rounded the first two up, but they have birthdays in a few weeks. For years and years I was so accustomed to doing everything for them. There was a turning point when I realized that was almost a disservice to them because they weren’t learning how to do things for themselves. TMI, but my 6 year old still wants help wiping. I asked him why and he said, “because it’s gross.” You know what, it’s gross for me too, dude! Time you learned how to do it yourself. 🙂
I’m always so pleasantly surprised to find out they are indeed capable of emptying the dishwasher, folding laundry, and taking out the trash. They are by no means my servants, but when we all pitch in together, there’s more time for tennis at the park after dinner, a bike ride, or a re-run of Psych while we fold laundry.
Last summer we decided to help out our school with a painting project. I was a bit nervous of a disastrous mess, but the kids really stepped up and worked hard. They also learned out to paint! We gave the girl’s bathroom fresh paint and new décor. I was so proud of them for their work ethic, good attitudes, and capabilities to learn a new skill.
In preparation for Back to School, we volunteered our time and “talents” again and we are tackling a bigger project. We are repainting a classroom which is about 4x the size of the bathroom we took on last year. When we do something that will take quite a few hours, I like to balance it with rewards, fun, and encouragement to finish strong.
There will be trips to Wendy’s for Frosties, breaks to go swimming, and their choice of a fast food lunch at least one day. I enjoy my time spent with them. We talk, we laugh, and we freak out together when someone tracks paint off the tarp on the bottom of their shoe.
I hope they don’t resent me for making them spend a week of their summer painting, but it comes from a place of love. I desire for them to get the feeling of satisfaction after a productive day. I hope they appreciate one day that they have the life skill to paint a room if they want to. Most of all, I want them to see that they can encourage people with a simple act of service such as painting.
We go back to school August 28th. Next week I’ll be posting about our favorite BTS products from Minted. We will work hard this week, but soak in our last summer moments the following week. (Oh please let us be done with the classroom by Friday, I’m nervous because it’s BIG!) If your school has any opportunities to help, don’t assume someone else will step up and fill a need. Be the family that is willing and ready to help. I have no doubt you will be a great encouragement to your school, teachers, and staff while teaching your kids how to be good and capable human beings.
