As my sons get older and closer to important milestones in life I get more & more emotional about them. I was thinking today, as I walked into my sons' school, that I will get to relive twice all the rites of passage in life that I went through myself (and then, if I am blessed with grandchildren and a long life -- I'll live through many more with the grandkids, WOW!). And I don't know if I like that prospect. I wasn't really thinking of those things when I had children. Sigh... It's interesting to discover new things about mothering/ parenting once in a while, though!
Last night was 8th grade graduation and my 7th grader actually walked down the aisle during the ceremony (the tradition in our school is that pairs of 7th graders stand in line as their classmates walk in, one by one) and I was teary-eyed several times during reading of the profiles of the 18 graduating students. I am very apprehensive about next year, I don't want to cry from beginning to end! It's hard, though! My parents will be here as will probably my in-laws. Kelvin is the oldest grandchild on both sides of the family, so it will be the first graduation for all of us.
Today I missed the photo slide show that the 7-8th grade teacher always prepares for the whole school and I felt sad about it. The last day of school is the day I bring cake to celebrate my youngest son's birthday, since it's the last day I can do it before the date (May 30th). In the first three years I baked cupcakes, but in the last two our new tradition has become homemade vanilla-Oreo ice-cream cake! (the Oreos are crushed in the blender, the ice-cream is mixed with Cool-Whip). I'm becoming "famous" in the elementary school because of this cake, kids and adults alike love it. I bring it to school so the kids can eat it before school is out (12:15 on the last day), after singing Happy Birthday to my son.
This was done and it went on smoothly, but then I felt sad that it was all over. Particularly as I went over to Kelvin's class and saw the eighth graders (not high-schoolers) there for the last time! :-( Next year it will be my son and I will probably be sadder, but at the same time excited for what is coming. If all goes well, next year will be the beginning of a 12 year streak of graduations for our sons. One every two years: 8th grade, high school, college. I know it will go by just too fast, so I want to savor every event, even if it feels sad. (wow, that was a lot of "eves"! and "Vs")
This year seems to have gone fast, but it was also kind of stressful, so it's a good thing it's over. I have mixed feelings about it all, though, because I have a hard time keeping my sons going at home. I know that if left to their own devices all they will do will be to spend all day playing on their ipad or computers (Minecraft) or, maybe their WiiU, and that's not good. Summers aren't my favorite time of the year -- unless we're traveling, which, we obviously will.
Have a great summer, everyone!
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