Okay, well it’s not really September yet, but it is Back to School time again. As a Mother of four children who are now almost adults, I am transported back in time once again to the days where I was scurrying to get everyone ready for the beginning of a brand new year. Now, I have two college students who started the semester today and I still have one High School student on the premises. But things are a little different now.
Right about now, I’d be having my first anxiety attack trying to fulfill the vast lists of supplies the kids needed. I heard a report on the news the other day about just this topic. It is estimated that the average family will spend about $600.00 PER student between supplies, clothing and fees at the beginning of the school year. And believe me, that’s no joke. I can vouch for spending about $150 per kid just for school supplies….and that didn’t even include their individual fees and miscellaneous things they’d need the first two months of the school year. I mean, there were Spiderman and My Little Pony lunch boxes! There were Buzz Lightyear and Pokemon Backpacks! There were like FIFTEEN notebooks per child, and pencils, and sharpeners and scissors…..OH MY!!! I had an entire closet devoted to school supplies!!
I had to keep this closet stocked throughout the school year with glue sticks, liquid glue, markers, crayons, filler paper, construction paper, folders, tape, staplers, highlighters, erasers, and oh yes….Kleenex!! I literally had a store in my house! Later on, as they progressed to the upper grades there were BINDERS!! Dear God!! Like $10 apiece!! It’s insane what they expect the parents to supply these kids with! Then, like the second week of school…..Hey, it’s picture time!! Let’s get their pictures taken before the school illness epidemics begin!! That’s like another $25 bucks per kid, and that’s the CHEAP package!! Then, throughout the year would be the constant projects they had to come up with….usually requiring more trips to the Walmart or Target… for more supplies we didn’t already have in the closet!! Yikes!! :O Never mind that every student/parent was on the hunt for EXACTLY the same supplies all at the same time!! Fun, fun, fun!!
Now, let’s not forget that the children have to eat! So, when they’re little….they have to take snacks to school… not a full blown lunch… But, there’s the list of things they can’t bring because there are twenty kids in the class with some sort of food allergy! Which poses another issue when it’s time to provide the classroom Birthday treats!! OY!! But as they get older, they either bring a lunch or buy a lunch…. either way, it’s going to cost you a second mortgage just to provide the food to keep their little brains and bodies fueled.
That first month of school for us was like a complete blur! It was a veritable cacophony of book coverings, stacks upon stacks of papers that need to be filled out every year for each child (till your handwriting no longer resembles your own), and fighting with children to try and get them back on a normal sleep schedule. I actually remember being up till midnight the night before school, labeling each child’s supplies and packing their backpacks for the morning.
Ah, there’s so much to remember, I could never fit it all in this one writing. The Halloween parties and costumes. The Christmas programs. The milestone graduation ceremonies….Kindergarten, 4th Grade, 8th Grade, and finally High School…and everything in between. The first time you put them on that school bus with that 20lb. backpack….and they can barely climb up that first step….and their little faces in the window waving “Good-bye Momma”…. And the tears that roll down your face as that bus drives away that first time with your precious cargo. I can still feel the lump in my throat. And that moment you first see them in their Cap and Gown for High School graduation…… The flooding of all those memories…. Well, there’s nothing like it.
Actually, I don’t think that lump ever leaves your throat as a Mother. I’m still in awe every day, that they are mine and that I actually gave birth to them! My sons now have facial hair and voices that startle me if I don’t hear them walk in a room before they speak 🙂 My daughters are now young women, with women’s figures and make-up!♥♥ Like, when did that happen exactly?! I’m in awe…truly in awe of them. They are the greatest miracles of my life.
So, how do I feel now? Now that those moments have changed? Now that they drive themselves to wherever they need to be and don’t ride the big yellow school bus anymore? Now that the “closet” is no longer as stocked as it used to be? Truthfully, I don’t know how I feel. It’s a mixed feeling of relief and melancholy. Relief that I no longer have to stock that closet till it’s full and kinda wishing that I still had to. It’s a really weird feeling actually, since it’s been the focal point of my existence for the last twenty years or so… But, we’re not completely there yet either.. My youngest still has two years of high school left. That’s gonna be a crazy year, since she and my eldest son will graduate at the same time. Her from High School…him from College… Praise the Lord!! So, I’m not quite done with it all yet.
So, in closing of this post…let me just say to all the Moms out there pulling their hair out and making way too many trips to the Walmart, Target and the Malls….I Understand. This too shall pass… All too quickly. You don’t believe it when it’s happening. But it does. So all I can say is, enjoy the chaos!! For all too soon, it’ll be way too quiet in your house. And you will find yourself transported back in time every time you see a school bus. 🙂 Make sure you keep a supply of Kleenex on hand.
Eat, Rant-A-Latte 