In the early, dusky morning clammer of messy-bunned moms clinging to their coffee mugs, and sleepy-eyed children anticipating the arrival of a bus…I overheard two of the mothers talking.
A simple inquiry as to how the first few days of school had gone. “Oh good….there were just a few tears,” the one woman replied.
Her son stood below her, fidgeting with the tiny key chain he held in his hand. Hearing her words, he looked up at his mother with a funny expression on his face. “But I did fine mommy,” he spoke with all the determination of a burgeoning kindergartener.
His mother laughed nervously and replied, “Oh I know….mommy meant….SHE only cried a little….because I missed you.”
I paused before taking a sip from my bright yellow coffee tumbler, and smiled. His head tipped. She’d been found out, and yet in that moment I saw her son lean in to offer her a hug. It was simply the sweetest and most honest moment a person can witness at 7 am.
It’s the early rites of passage….the first moments that stretch us the most. The first child, on their first bus ride, to their first day of school….all without your watchful eye. The first born off to college, sleeping away from home, and beginning adulthood….all without your comforting shoulder.
It’s the ever burning question that whispers to us….did we do enough to prepare them? Not just in the obvious more academic ways, but socially. Are they ready for all that the world will bring their way?
The blessing of course is their world is smaller than ours, and some of the greater life lessons don’t arrive for several more years…thank goodness.
Thankfully we get to experience a series of rudder shifts alongside them before the gale force winds appear. Sure, there are moments in which we help to guide and at times correct their course, but it is important to remember that we are not the captain of their vessels….they are.
Sure you built the ship. You chose all the materials that would go into their preparation, but from that first day they hit the water…..if you have done your job well….they will sail farther and farther from the shore. The gift…..is that they come back overflowing with tales of adventure.
They will tell you that they missed you….and as you lean in to give them a hug….your nostrils will swell with the salty scent of sea air on their skin, and you will smile.
Motherhood lived in Technicolor reminds us to celebrate the moments of departure….for without them….we’d never know the joy found only in the homecoming!
Summer Smith is a speaker, writer, and motherhood blogger. She and her family are currently navigating the suburbs of Northern Virginia. As the mother to four young children, Summer maintains her sanity thanks to her sense of humor, copious amounts of coffee, and Amazon Prime. Maya Angelou once said, when reflecting on her childhood, that her mother left an impression like technicolor stars in the midnight sky. Influenced by these words, Summer blogs at her website Motherhood in Technicolor, and can also be found on her Motherhood in Technicolor Facebook page.