Way back in 1989 I turned my beautiful first born son over to the public education system for just a few hours a day. Fortunately I live in a state where one can send one's child to public school with reasonable confidence that they will return safe and, with plenty of support at home, educated. By the time child number 3 was toddling off to school with his brothers I came to realize this was the greatest gift society ever gave to moms. It was no secret... Mom's favorite holiday was the first day of school.
So today I'm feeling melancholy, forlorn. Since the girl child graduated from high school in May, and I'm no longer working at the school, this is the first time in 23 years I haven't participated in the ritual of the first day of school. I've not spent a dime on "back-to-school fashions" no kid would ever wear. There has been no celebratory dancing naked in the kitchen after the youngun's are out the door. No late breakfast at IHOP with the other moms. No deep sigh accompanied by the thought "I ought to clean the house while the kids are gone...NOT!" I already miss my old friend, a treasure passed to a younger generation of moms.
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