Grab a cup of coffee or if you are like me and don’t drink coffee, maybe an ice water with lemon, come sit down and chat! I have been gone all summer and I’m looking forward to blogging again, it’s been a while that’s for sure. I have a lot on my heart and mind as we get ready for the kids to head back to school. I am entering a new season of life, with all my kids at school and no little ones at home to take care of during the day anymore. This year, I will be sending my youngest off to all day kindergarten. I’ve already cried a few times and I am sure there are more tears to be shed.
In some aspects, this is the long awaited day for moms, when we can finally head out to the grocery store (ok, let’s be real, Target) alone, clean the house and it stays clean for hours at a time, have coffee with a friend and not have to find childcare for the little ones. Yet, I have never looked forward to this day, when all my little people will be gone away all day and it’s just me to take care of myself and the house for 7 hours a day. And now that the time is here, I am even less excited for it. I knew that when I moved here the stay at home mom population was quite small, I had been warned! I am the only stay at home mom on my street. And maybe it’s not where I live but just our society? It seems that pretty much everyone has a job or gets a job when their kids go to school and the other moms that do stay home are homeschooling. Which is fine, no judgement from me on that, everyone needs to live their life and make their own choices! I don’t have a college degree, I didn’t put a career on hold while my kids were little and if I were to work it would be retail which is mostly nights, weekends and holidays. Beyond that, with all the snow days, sicks days, early release, late start and holidays the kids get off, I swear I would be only working 2 days a week if I found a job during the day. And I suppose I have a job too, besides being a wife and mom, I have Jamberry to keep me busy, maybe a few staging jobs and I think I’ll start painting furniture on the side as well.
Yet I wish that there were some moms to go to coffee with during the morning or maybe even going on some thrifting adventures. My Wednesday small group has dissipated, I feel I am too old for one more year of MOPS and am just feeling lost as to what I am really going to do. Since my oldest was about 2 years old I have been involved in some sort of Moms group, study, connection. This was such a life line to me, where I found my friends, friends who could relate to my season of life but beyond that, we had common interests and also shared our love of Christ.
I am really struggling with this transition, what do I do now? I am thankful that I can stay home and don’t “need” to get a job but I am at a loss of what to do in this new season I am going to be entering into. Anyone else been there? Words of wisdom? Advice? Or maybe you just want to hand me a kleenex for next week when I send my last baby off to school.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-14
A Time for Everything
For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.
And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.
It’s a bittersweet thing for sure, to be in your position. I have a feeling that your days will fill up more quickly than you think. But if they don’t, you could always try volunteering somewhere. Maybe reading books in a nursing home? We have a group of moms and girls who do nails at a local nursing home each week. But whatever you do, enjoy some peace and quiet for a little while!
Alison
Nancherrow
I completely understand Ange! I know the feeling of wondering where do I belong. All I can say is pray for God’s guidance and he will answer. Think of it as your time now where you can blog more, volunteer in the schools, or do what you are led to do. Change is a good thing because we grow as we change and see new opportunities in front of us. I’ll be thinking of you as you send your little one off to school. Maybe you and your hubby take that day for a lunch date to celebrate your family and the new chapter of life thats starting. You’ve got this.
Xxoo- Andrea
I can’t believe they are all in school already! You have such an adorable family, Ange. Welcome back
It’s really tough. I went through something very similar when my youngest started kindergarten. You may want to volunteer at the school for a couple of hours a few days a week. They are always looking for aids and extra help. You don’t necessarily need a college degree to be an aid in a classroom. It might make this transition easier and it gets rid of the issue of having the same schedule as the kids, because you’re right with the holidays etc with school. Also if you volunteer at the school you never know where it could lead.