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Open House

Today was open house at my son’s school, and I forgot.

I forgot.

I didn’t write it on my whiteboard wall calendar. I didn’t write it in my agenda and it wasn’t in my google calendar. Work went a little late. When the babysitter left, I breathed a sigh of relief. Time to prep dinner {ahem I mean clean} before guests come over.

My son says, “mom! Tonight is open house!”

Oh my gosh! I totally forgot. Like completely and totally. I quickly buckled the baby into her car seat, yelled to the kids to buckle up and ran upstairs to spray perfume & grab chapstick {#beingreal #notimeformakeup}.

I grabbed my baby carrier and jumped into the car yelling “buckle up!!!!!” We left for my son’s school and had trouble finding a parking spot. We finally parked and raced inside. My two older kids were thrilled and my baby, well she kept shrieking with joy to be on my back and be outside. We chatted with classmates and parents on our way to the classroom. Once inside, we bustled around looking at the different projects. My son was excited to show me “him” sitting in the chair.

It was such a joy to check out his classroom; I have no regrets.

I was late to my own dinner party {sorry}, however it was important for Sam that I see his classroom.

If I’m being honest, I was nervous about not wearing makeup, messy clothes and unwashed hair (#workfromhomemom), however I chose to show up for my son.

Will he remember my outfit? No.

Will he remember my hair? No. 

Will he remember my makeup less face? No.

Will he remember that I forgot about open house and he reminded me and I dropped everything to go? Yes.

Will I always be able to do it? No, but I was today, and that was enough.

It was enough for today. It was lagom and it was love for my son.

Self Portrait

Try to reach outside your comfort zone and do something today for someone else. You may surprise yourself. You may find a piece of courage and bravery you didn’t know you had. ❤

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Kindergarten Hard

Some days I wish I could go back to kindergarten. Life sounds so easy. You take the bus to & from school, you have a set lunch & recess time, you have toys to play with. Contrast that to adult life: work, parent, spouse, bills, kids, relationships, kindergarten sounds simple.

In a way it is simple, however in other ways it is a hard transition. For the first time in my son’s life he has to think about a schedule: bus schedule, specials schedule, daily schedule, weekend schedule, school year schedule.

Before kindergarten, I took care of all of his scheduling. Now he has to take some responsibility.

Some days are rough. Mondays can be hard. Transitioning from weekend to weekday is not easy {heck I struggle with it too}.

Recently, after a particularly tough evening we had a heart to heart. I asked him what he was having a hard time with. With tears in his eyes, he said, “I tried doing what you asked me to do, but it was too hard.” {take off his clothes & put on his PJs}

I pulled him close and empathized with him. “It’s hard being 6 and in kindergarten isn’t it?” “Yes,” he wavered.

I told him it was ok. It’s ok to have a hard time. It’s ok to fall apart. It’s ok to struggle. I told him to keep at it. I told him it will get better. I told him to be brave. I told him we’re here for him. That was all he needed, a hug, some empathy and understanding, a mom who listened.

Take a moment to understand your young ones. Take a moment to feel what they feel. You may be surprised.