the graduate

The last thing that I have time for is a blog post, but I'm so enamored by the images captured tonight of Finn at his kindergarten graduation that I just had to write.  I have hours of laundry left anyway, before heading to the airport and a much anticipated weekend in Asheville, NC with Mike. 

Montessori Children's Garden just plain does it right.  What a special experience they gave our kids tonight, in perfect weather, sitting in their kid-sized chairs on the lawn.  Each of the twelve graduates were talked about in detail, with their teachers telling all the guests what makes each one of them so special.  Then, the kids got a chance to speak as well, telling us all their favorites about school at MCG.  I cannot express how much I love this school and the amazing staff members who grace its halls.

Finn and his "A" last name were up first and Miss Teresa talked about how his excitement for school has grown so much over the last two years and how creative he is.  Then she ended, with Finn's permission, with a story about his most recent Mother's Day letter to me.  Really, let's allow the letter to speak for itself.

As you might have guessed, Finn's "ferret" comparison was a killer and we all laughed out loud.  Never in my life would I have thought my son would find me similar to a rodent that requires de-skunking, but hey, I'll wear it with pride because I'm sure he means it in the nicest possible six-year-old way.  After graduation, a few moms that I didn't know even asked, "Are you the Ferret Mom?" 

"Yes, yes I am," I proudly replied.  What a hoot this kid is!

So here are some pictures of our little graduate, who was blessed enough to have a crowd there in his honor to cheer him on, and to whom, I know, only great things will come! Love you like crazy little dude!

Check out last year's Mother's Day Letter - he's growing up!!

post mother's day blow up

Yesterday was a great day.  I felt loved, a little spoiled, immersed in a favorite past-time, and eventually, a little guilty.  However, the party is over and today is another story entirely.  On the morning following a celebration of the role I cherish most, I feel spent and sad and exhausted.  Lost homework turned into WW III, big changes have presented new and confusing challenges, this might be the busiest week of life so far, and Mom exploded on the (late) ride to school.

None of the concerns that I loudly voiced on the way to school were incorrect.  Everything was something that needed to be said.  My kids are getting older and even though they fight it, sometimes they have no choice but to rise to the challenges that face them.  If they can, I've done my job.

And I know that they will.  That somehow, just when they think they can't, they'll realize they can.  That they had the power all along, right inside.  It's my responsibility to make sure they discover that inner power as soon as possible and help them harness it to use in whatever way their dreams lead.  So, sometimes I'm tough and tell them what they need to know, once again, because it hasn't sunk in quite yet.

Then they hop from the car, obviously tired of my words, possibly feeling their sting just a bit.  As I watch their tiny (and huge at the same time) bodies walk away and into the world, my heart falls deep, deep down into a place I hate to go.   Why do I ever yell at them ever?  I just love them so much it hurts.  Literally.

I can't imagine growing up in the world that they face.  Technology and its implications beyond imagination, more pressure to succeed than ever, and growing requirements and expectations at every turn, are just some of the things they face.  And they're just little kids.  Kids who, more than anything else in the whole wide world, I just want to be happy.

I know that I'm good at this job, most of the time.  And I'm human, so I have to forgive myself the mistakes I make, just as I forgive my kids.  I mean, how can we improve if we never falter?  So here's to falling, getting back up and being better than you were before.  Every single day.

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Interested in some past Mother's Day posts?  Here are a few:

Just in Time for Mother's Day
Mother's Day Breakfast
Mother's Day 2009