Labor Day Weekend!
As summer vacation winds down, many parents, teachers, and students struggle to wrap their minds around the dreaded first day of school. As the parent of a rising ninth grader, I am lucky to have any hair left. I have wondered if other parents feel the same anxiety. This year is different. Now, don’t get me wrong, I pride myself on not being a helicopter parent, hovering so close that I almost suffocate myself, but I am a little stressed. We are braving puberty and adolescence with minimal battle scars. However, this is the most extensive school supply list in history. Everyone wants a three-ring binder, dividers, rulers, glues sticks, NON-click ink pens, no mechanical pencils, printer paper, 4G USB drive (some teachers have the nerve to inform me they will not share space with other teachers) …you get the picture. My son is pretty healthy, but, as I read this list that resembled the instructions for a 10-15-page essay, I had a flashback of preparing for a 10K ruck march/hike. Is the goal preparation for his metaphorical journey of life while preparing him to compete in a CrossFit challenge?
Today, I stopped, took a breath, and enjoyed just spending time with my family, doing what we do best, laughing and picking on each other. My son says he’s a little nervous about the first day of school, but he is NOT displaying any distress signals. So, yep, you guessed it, Mom was flipping out for no reason. When I asked him something about how he felt about the upcoming day, he asked, “Do you want to play some Rayman with me?” In my mind, I’m like seriously. Then, the lightbulb went off. I was spending a little much-needed quality time with my family, but focusing on something that will not change. So, I decided to get back to the moment.
We went shopping, caught up on one of my son’s favorite Youtuber (#Berleezy-don’t judge me), saw the movie A-X-L, and went swimming. So, today, instead of getting our steps in, we did laps. We caught Indiana Jones and just enjoyed being together. At the end of the day, we all need to take a step back sometimes and enjoy the moments. Just keep pushing.
Until next time,
Visionary Trailblazin’
