Wednesday, August 19, 2009

So We Don't Forget

Lynette Kraft has been doing Wednesday's Walk and recently updated it to So We Don't Forget. The idea here is to share special memories. It's really been an amazing mix of memories, some sad, some fun and others very thought provoking. I'd like to invite you to head over to her Blog and join in and/or read other shared memories!

This week the theme is School Days. Now I know my memories of when my girls first started off to school are not going to be very popular but it's the honest truth and truth is always the best choice, right?!

I am not, and have never been, a typical mommy. I have signed for all three girls to get their first tattoo at the age of 17, (very tasteful and hidden under clothing but tats none the less) my girls struggled with the pain of seeing their parents divorce not once, but twice. (Yes, I married and divorced their dad twice. That's another story!) My girls and I have always had the type of relationship where they tell me everything, and I do mean everything. Sometimes that can be a bit wearing on me. Other times it's very "Holy cat scratch Bat Man! I really don't want to hear this"! (Of course I never voiced those thoughts out loud, they just cycled through my head when the girls might be telling me something that made my eyes pop or my mouth drop open) Anyway, you get the picture, right?

So when the first day of Kindergarten rolled around for my oldest, Ashley, I did not struggle with her going off to school. I COULD NOT WAIT! Yep. I am THAT MOM. My girls were "stair step" babies. One right after the other in rapid succession. I was exhausted. At that time, we only lived about two blocks from the Elementary School so I brought her to school each day. She was as excited as I was! We got to the school and there were all the other mom's and kiddos and most of them were in various stages of sad and weepy. Not me and Ash! Hugs and kisses and "Have a great day honey" were dolled out in quick order and I went home. Big sigh of relief! I was finally at the point when my girlies were starting school. However, that didn't bring me the freedom that I thought it would. It brought having to volunteer in her class, it brought her wanting to join Brownies and wanting friends over to play and spend the night, it brought Parent-Teacher conferences, and on and on and on...and so this mommy learned a lesson. Just when I thought a small window of freedom had opened up for me, BAM! Someone sealed it with that plastic stuff you put on your leaky windows in the winter! I guess the moral of my School Days memory...when we become mommy's, we are mommy's forever.

The worry about them never goes away, your "freedom" to be who you are staggers back in at various stages but never truly comes back like it was before "mommy hood" knocked on your door. And mircale of miracles, my baby Casey is a Senior in High School this year and this very "unconventional mommy" is a tad bit sad to see all of those years of Primary school come to an end. I know! It's a shock and surprise to me too! But never fear, King James and Prince Ethan will go off to school one day and this very "unconventional mommy" will move into the very "unconventional grand mommy" stage and I'm already guessing I will be the one to shed a tear over that and not their mommy! scuba diving


6 comments:

Shayna @ Texas Monkey said...

You sound like a fun yet trustworthy mom. Enjoyed reading your story. Hopped over from Lynnette's blog.

Shayna

Anonymous said...

OMG....you C-a-rack me up!! I never had to send my kids, but I think I would have been the hysterical mother who just couldn't let go!! But then...maybe not?? Freedom?? what's that!?!?! I wouldn't trade the kiddos for any of my "old" freedom just like I know you wouldn't either! Homeschooling made me envious of those free moms....now I know....there is no such thing!! :P

Michelle said...

Hi, stepped over from Lynette's blog. I can relate (not that my kids are stairstepped), but I can't wait for school to start here. And like you, I also get lulled into thinking I'll have lots of time to myself, but probably not so. Volunteerism sets in about the second week and the rest of the year is written in stone. Hope you have a great autumn!

Michelle
The Tender Scribe

Linda said...

Kelly, You are fun. I was the mom crying her eyes out at the bus when my last baby girl got on it to go to kindergarten. Then I called my husband and said,..."We don't have a baby anymore,..sob, sob, sob",...and he freaked out and thought she had died or something! Then when I told him I had just put her on the bus to go to kindergarten he laughed at me!

We are all different,...yet all loved by God. I think it is great that he made such a variety in His children. ((smile))

Linda @ Truthful Tidbits

Unknown said...

I think if all of us we're honest, we'd all admit that a little FREE TIME sounds amazing! I sometimes think - "What in the world am I doing?" It's HARD! My house is never clean, the laundry is never caught up, the meals are always last minute, it's loud and crazy, but you know what... I do love it - somehow! ha! Living at home with 6 kids all day every day is... well... a wild ride! :)

Thanks for sharing. You do have a beautiful family - and you sound like a great mom.
Lynnette
Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground

Momma's

Stone Fox said...

oh boy. i was SO pumped about sending my oldest to preschool this year..

my vision: hurried mornings leading into me dropping the Hurricane off at preschool and then coming home to put the baby down for a nap and hanging out with my Princess. it would be quiet. it would be girl time. we would play and sing songs and read books. there may or may not be angels singing in the background accompanied by harps. i would pick my Hurricane up at noon and we would come home, and both of the little kids would be down for a nap so me and Hurricane could read books and listen to angels and harps.

so thanks. for COMLETELY RUINING MY TOTALLY UNREALISTIC FANTASY! i never even thought about volunteering or being class mom or him having new friends over or begging to be in the same extracurricular activities as his new friends and invites to birthday parties of said new friends and raffles and fundraisers for preschool or any of that.

i am, however, a realist. thank you, sincerely, for bursting my bubble. i feel so much more prepared for the onslaught that is preschool.