Morning Moments

Today as I was walking into school with Aiden, two of his buddies walked up and we all chatted away about the water gun battle they were going to have in PE. As I veered to the right to head towards the high school, I watched for a minute as he walked down the sidewalk talking with his friends.

I was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude for this special year of bringing my kids to school everyday and staying to teach. I almost cried. Every day I've gotten to skip the carpool line of drop and go and instead get out of the car and walk with them.

It's such a simple thing that today knocked me over with its significance. Everyday I get to kiss them (sometimes not as significant and never as meaningful to them) and make the sign of the cross on their sweet little foreheads. I get to see them run down the sidewalk, fall into line and mingle with their friends.

It has been crazy busy this teaching gig. It has involved sleepless nights, phone calls to parents and endless hours of grading. I have thought about this as well as how much I love teaching. I love the subject matter. I love the people I work with. I love, love the students.

I had been so busy thinking about all these things that I had almost forgotten how incredibly wonderful it has been to be a tiny bit more involved in my own children's lives.

As I sit typing this on my back porch and the big kids scatter into the abyss of the common backyard, it is only me and Max. He taps me on the shoulder and begs, "Mama! You watch this!", then he too scatters off to the slide.

Suddenly I am all the more grateful for my morning and my children because I am once again reminded that all too soon they will be gone and I will really, really miss this.