The end of summer has arrived, with all the bittersweetness it brings. MomSpeaker Shivaun Williams encapsulates the parenting moment.
Try as I may, I can not ignore the inevitable.
I can not ignore the fact that summer is, indeed, fleeting and kids are, sigh, growing older.
It's my end-of-August realization. Thanks, in part, to my news feed filled with last sips of summer, promptly followed by first-day-of-school pics.
We fell for summer, yet again. We dove right in, ignoring books and schedules. Focusing only on pedicures, fresh watermelon and beach trips. We fell right into her trap, as if she would stay forever.
And sometimes she does; even though the days get shorter, they inevitably get warmer as September nears. And if we were so bold as to ignore the calendar, and the email reminders, bus schedules and classroom assignments, we might just be inclined to stay there. Stay in that summer haze for as long as the weather allows.
Instead, new TV shows arrive, white shoes are outlawed and the dreaded "bedtime" re-enters our vocabulary.
If you're lucky, you'll linger after the kids have hopped on the bus and share your angst with the other moms. You'll talk about how you all thought it would get easier and your realization that it doesn't. Parenting does not get easier. You may get better at it, like that time you realized you could buy all of your kids' clothes for next year at the end of season sale this year. But the art of parenting can never be mastered.
Because the very minute you figure out a level, you're pushed to the next one (like some crazy, addictive Internet game).
After years and years of Septembers, what will you do when you no longer have little ones to put on the bus?
One would think that's when the party begins.
It's not. The joke's on you.
By that time, you'll just be too exhausted for such nonsense.
Life is funny that way.
Shivaun Williams is a Bucks County, PA writer and mom of three. This post is adapted from her blog, Dar Liomsa (In My Opinion).
