What a difference a year makes....or more

Every time I hear about or see pictures from the first day of school I think back to my kid's first days of school. I was one of those mom's who took the pictures-alone, with their siblings-the whole ball of wax. There is something about that first day that seems like such a milestone.

Last year at this time I was cheering on child number 2 as she entered her last semester of classes while working on her masters. She did it! Now she is about to embark on her "first real grown up job" (as she calls it) as a school counselor. She's excited, nervous and missing the people who she's been around daily for the past eight months. Living alone is always an adjustment. But this is her dream.

Child number 3 is on his first, last day of school/classes as he finishes up his degree in education. He's worked hard as well and will student teach in the spring, I'm sure that will be here before we know it too. Next year his first day of school will be as the teacher, not as a student, for the fist time in his life! Yay! What a difference a year will make for him, next year.

I remember taking child number 1 to his first day of kindergarten. This was it. Two years of pre-school was kind of a practice run for us. This was the real deal. He did better than I did and was off and playing as I was heading out the door hiding tears behind my sunglasses (thank goodness for those).

Child #2 was out of the car before I hardly got the car in park as she to headed to her first day of kindergarten, waving and calling "bye mom!". She thought she could take herself in...um, no! She was off and running shortly after we got to the classroom. No first day of school jitters there! She was, in fact,  sitting on her bed at 6:30 a.m., dressed in the little jumper I'd stayed up late making! She was excited and sure of herself. She still is!

Child #3 hung back a little bit when I took him to the first day of kindergarten. He and I had spent some time together when the two older siblings were off to school. I'd often pick him up from the babysitter and we'd have a lunch "date" before I dropped him off for preschool. But he warmed up and was off as I once again, like I did with all three kids, headed out the door wearing sunglasses as the tears stung my eyes. Yes I'm sentimental and I truly realized at that time that that was the end of one chapter and the start of another in their young lives, the first of many. I would no longer be the most important adult in their lives. They would be spending more of their day with their teacher than me. It's a tough pill to swallow, for any parent, after doing the job for the first five-plus years of their lives. But that's life and I would not want it any other way. I count my blessing every time I see a parent with a child of special needs who does not get those "normal" moments or those who can't have children and who just plain won't ever get those moments.

As I started my first day of school (again!) yesterday I found myself thinking about all the changes that had happened over the past year. I had to work with a senior girl who wants nothing but to be done regarding her senior year...."this is it," I told her, "next year will be completely different." She stopped the negative banter and I think she realized that I was right. Things were never going to be the same. Life ahead was a big bundle of changes and surprises. She left with a little different attitude, if even for a short time.

So looking back over the past year there have been a lot of changes. A LOT!! They are good and bad. No one knows where they will be in a year and that's okay. That's life, it happens. And no matter how much you plan, organize and try to control life, things just have a way of happening, and usually it is how we least expect it to go!

Positive thought of the day: Appreciate where you are at. If you are not experiencing changes then you are stuck in a rut. Keep moving, on and forward! That's life.