Running On Empty...No More

It is every parent's dream, to hear another adult say, "Your boy is a fine young man, you should be proud." Honored is more like it. She said it about my oldest son, NC, who has hated school since the 4th grade - ever since I transferred him from a small private Christian school with 9 students in his classroom to the public school with 25 students in his classroom. I remember how much he hated it, but he kept pretty quiet because he knew there was no other way at the time. He was being very grown-up by just dealing with the change. "Kids are resilient." "He'll adjust." "He's so bright, he'll be fine." So many people threw well-meaning phrases my way, because I couldn't bear the thought of my oldest son being unhappy. And thinking back on this very big change and how he coped, I am truly blessed that he is my son. NC in 2nd Grade You see, he's not the type of kid that fits in the mold expected for public school kids.

I love the word "anticipation". Most of the fun stuff in life is full of it. Every year, the anticipation for Gracie's birthday gets her all twisted up for weeks before the big day, and it always ends with a bit of sadness to see the excitement disappear. Holidays are the same way for all of my kids, especially NC. He gets so excited about the holidays and parties, in general, and will not stop talking about how much fun it's going to be. Then it comes and goes and he's kinda bummed that it's over. He gets that from me. That's how each of my week's end, with Friday even feels different because of the anticipation of the upcoming weekend. A time to let loose and unwind. I get so excited about the idea of the weekend, but then it comes and goes.  I'm a mom now, and that means the weekends are full of driving and cramming as much in to two days as possible. And now we are back at Monday. BLAH! I hate Mondays. But today is special. Today, with mu