Back to School Blues (for Mommy!)

My sons Luke and Noah have both started back to school within the last few weeks. This year back to school came with a surprise. The surprise was the sadness I felt when the boys went back to school. Mind you, I still have Mia (3 years) and Silas (1 year) at home so it's not like I won't have children around of which to share my time.

But this Summer was great! Really great! This past year that I took off to have a baby, adjust to baby life yet again, etc. etc. was a longer break than I had originally anticipated. See the "plan" was to give birth to Silas and go back to work outside of my home in the fashion industry that I so loved. HOWEVER; as life does, mine took a turn.

Silas was born with a some congenital heart problems and to make a long story short all of my "plans" had to be reconfigured. It's funny how when life throws you a curve it can be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Silas just turned a year old on the 5th of this month and is feeling much better. And I've had the opportunity to be home with him this whole year. I've started my own business in Baby Planning. I pick the kids up from school every day. I start dinner early. My house is a wreck - oh wait a minute, that's another blog for another day! Anyway, I'm doing a lot of those WAHM things that I wished I could've done when I was in the workforce full time. I've never loved domestic life more.

It really is ironic how something can happen in your life that throws you for a loop but then somehow wraps it's arms around you as a big blessing.

So what does that have to do with Back to School you say? Well, this was the first summer since my 8-year-old son Noah was a baby that I've not worked outside of the home. So I determined to do all those things with my four children that I would long to do when I was working outside of the home and never was afforded the opportunity to do. I took them to the "free" movies at the local theater every Tuesday or Wednesday, we'd go to my best friend's pool once a week, we went to the zoo multiple times, we had picnic lunches, we hit the beach, we went to story time, and we sat in our pajamas longer than we needed to on the dreary days.

We didn't take a vacation anywhere but we took a vacation from the routine that was our life before summer hit. It was crazy. It was fun. It was everything I said I would do in the summer if I was given the chance. That is why I was dreading the calendar turning and school going back in session. I know the "norm" is for mothers to count down, with excitement, the days until school is back in session but I was filled with sadness.

I'm not sure what next summer will hold for us. Plans don't always find their way to fruition. But one thing I can say with certainty: I would never trade this crazy, busy, fun-loving, messy, joyful, often loud, sometimes exhausting summer for anything in this world!