End of Year Reminders For Senior Parents

The title above is the subject line of an email I received this week.

Lemme break it down, because all of those words are Alarming.

End of Year - what the heck?  Just the other day I was sending my children off to the first day of school -- taking pictures of them on the front porch, and wishing them well with their new teachers and classes.  I was welcoming my sweet little class of preschoolers into my classroom, teaching them about Jesus, and also how to sit on the rug for circle time.  It's incredibly hard to believe it's the end of the year already, especially this year, as the end of this year marks the end of all I have known for 18 years (too much?  perhaps.  or maybe not).  End of Year = End of an Era.

Reminders - I have a lot of reminders this season:  in my head, on my (multiple lists), in my emails, at school, in my children's Friday folders, about medical information, in details for my daughter's graduation and open house, from my children's coaches. . .there is a lot this old girl has to remember right now.  And as I've written before, sometimes I rock spinning all the plates, and other times, well, not so much.  I'm somewhere in the middle right now, dropping a few, rocking some others.  Overall, my brain is pretty much at full capacity, and we haven't even begun to account for emotions, which, as you might have guessed, are running high.  Reminders =  Mild to Moderate Overload

Senior Parents - Ummm - who?  You can't possibly be talking to me, high school administration.  I am the mommy to many small children, some of whom are still in diapers and go to preschool.  My children still want to sit on my lap and need me to help them get in their carseats.  Wait, what?  Those years are past?  It seems they are, and I don't know how they disappeared so quickly.  I am now the mom to drivers, and employees and Academic Award winners.  I am the mom to nearly-adult children who make me laugh hysterically.  Thankfully, I am still mommy to a few youngish ones yet (I am so thankful God knew my mamma-heart and provided me with so many years of parenting!), and they are able to fill some of the voids my older children have left as they have grown up.  So, unaware I am of how it happened, it seems I am a Senior Parent (and only for a few days longer, to boot!).  Senior Parent = Parent In Disbelief

So, high school administration -- I have no idea how your email got to me so quickly.  How my little baby, my little girl, has become a beautiful young woman, on the cusp of graduating from high school and leaving home for college.  Most of me feels unprepared for this new era which is upon me, but then I look at my girl, and I see that she is ready.  She is ready to take on this new adventure and see what God's plan is for her.  And because she is ready, I am ready too (or will be, incrementally!).

Look out world!  It's the end of the year, and my senior is ready to take you on!

The Week in Pictures

A little snapshot of a few things that have been happening over here in the last week:

This week I had my Mother's Day Program in my classroom.  All the children were so excited to have their moms and grandmas in our room.  They sang for, laughed with, and hugged and kissed those special gals.  It is one of my favorite moments of the school year.  I shared with the mammas something I had written a few years ago - a reminder of what an amazing job they are doing. What a joy it is to teach these little people, and also get to know and love their families over the year!  I will miss them all so much in a couple of weeks!

My daughter's graduation party is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I have been cooking, baking, planning and buying (we are having a chalkboard theme and I've told myself I can't buy anything else chalkboard related)!  I can't say I'd want to do this all the time, but I have really been enjoying getting it all ready.  I'm not exactly ready emotionally for the big event, but I hope I will be ready for the party!  

Oh my goodness, the yanny/laurel debate.  We are a house divided.  Some people hear laurel and very firmly feel that anyone who doesn't hear laurel has clearly lost their mind.  Others (me) cannot in a million years imagine hearing laurel from a word that so clearly sounds like only yanny.  The science behind it all is pretty interesting and has sparked many conversations about sound and hearing.  So I guess it's a win, because science?  

It has been a week of awards for my high schoolers. . .academic, theater and scholarship awards.  Three nights and three different ceremonies.  It has been every bit of awesome to watch my two oldest be honored for their achievements.  I love them fiercely and have been weepy more than once this week (I'm sure you're so surprised by that!).  I am grateful for the gifts and talents they have been given.  To God be the glory!

Graduation Reflections, Part One

Ok, it's kind of weird to entitle a post "part one", when one doesn't have a real vision of what parts two or three will look like.  BUT - given the subject of this post, I just have a gut feeling that over the next month I will have many graduation reflection feelings (pride, tears, joy, tears, happiness, tears. . . you get the idea).  So - the first of probably several thoughts I will have on my daughter's upcoming high school graduation:

About January/February of my daughter's 8th grade year, my husband and I had a moment.  He had spoken with two good friends whose children had attended nearby parochial high schools, and he suggested we consider touring some instead of just assuming that our nearby public school would be the right choice for her.  Oddly enough, since I had only ever attended parochial schools my entire schooling career, I felt anxious about this plan.  The schools we were talking about were 30 minutes away, cost a lot of money, were full of people we didn't know, and were just plain unknown.  But - I did agree that we should check out our options before truly deciding what was best for our daughter. Our girl, who had been thinking she would be attending the public high school with most of her friends, was a little emotional, but mature about it all.

And so we visited the first school on our list - Marian.  Very soon into our visit, I knew this would be the place for her (and her brothers and sister).  My daughter felt it too -- she said it was just like our Lutheran grade school - only the high school version.  We were impressed with the students we encountered, the staff we talked to, and the curriculum we were shown.  But most of all, I remembered being drawn into the integral goal of the school -- to help form Godly, moral Christian people, and to get them into heaven above all.

Though our daughter felt all of what we felt, it was still a bit of an emotional mental switch for her.  We told her (and she understood), that we would listen to our children's opinions about where they would like to attend high school, but that as their parents, we would ultimately be making that important decision. And very soon, we knew that Marian was indeed our choice for our children.

We told our daughter that we weren't "afraid" of public education -- that choosing this parochial high school was not an alternative to public education or somehow a safe zone, shelter or oasis.  But -- that Marian would work in tandem with us as parents to do the following:

• To continue to teach our children to know and love God
• To give them a solid moral formation and foundation
• To show them how to love God with their entire being, which would therefore spill over into every aspect of their lives, including how they would conduct themselves in all circumstances

My friends, Marian felt like home.  Marian's mission felt like that of our Lutheran grade school, and all the things we valued in it were valued there as well.  The teachers at Marian want to touch young people's lives in just the same way I want to touch my students' lives in preschool and grade school.  The teachers in both places want the core of everything they do to be Jesus.  To show children Jesus, and bring them closer to him.

As our daughter's time at Marian is coming to a close, I am so incredibly thankful God led us there.  My daughter (and my son, behind her) has received a top-notch college-prep education, but more importantly, has continued to have her faith fed and nurtured on a daily, hourly basis.  And those lessons will last an eternity.

The Shepherd's Lamb

Yesterday evening, my grandma passed away.  Very peacefully, with all of her children surrounding her, she took her last breath here on earth and was welcomed into Jesus' outstretched arms.  She lived a long life, and last night her prayer was answered -- to be united with Christ her Savior.

My grandma was a feisty gal -- she always spoke her mind; you never had to wonder what she was thinking.  She loved her family fiercely, and loved being surrounded by them.  Her laugh was infectious, and when she was excited, she raised her hands up in glee.  She loved the sunshine, gummy bears and stuffed animals.  She loved to fish and play cards (and help everyone she was playing with!) She was always cold -- I have vivid memories of her standing on the floor register when we would visit.  She never asked for much and was content with what she had.  She was a lovely lady, and she will be missed by everyone who knew her.

Yesterday morning, my dad played several of my husband's homilies for my grandma.  I don't know what she was able to hear, but one of the homilies was the one on Good Shepherd Sunday.  His homily ended with the hymn below, one of my very favorites.   I love all the "shepherd/sheep" hymns -- the imagery of Jesus as our shepherd is so comforting. 

 "I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  John 10:11   

Jesus, the good shepherd, laid down his life for my grandma, his little lamb.  And she knew it!  Her shepherd called her by name, guided her and took care of her every need.  And when her time on earth came to a close, he enfolded her in his arms.  What a God we have!  Grandma's earthly struggles have come to end -- victory in Jesus is hers!

 I am Jesus' little lamb,

Ever glad at heart I am;

For my Shepherd gently guides me,

Knows my need, and well provides me,

Loves me every day the same,

Even calls me by my name.

Day by day, at home, away,

Jesus is my Staff and Stay.

When I hunger, Jesus feeds me,

Into pleasant pastures leads me;

When I thirst, He bids me go

Where the quiet waters flow.

Who so happy as I am,

Even now the Shepherd's lamb?

And when my short life is ended,

By His angel host attended,

He shall fold me to His breast,

There within His arms to rest.