This past weekend was homecoming for my four high school kids. One was not interested in the least about any of the activities. The other three participated in a lot of the activities. After all, it’s their senior year.
Preparations started weeks in advance with finding dresses, shoes, and a bow tie. There was also the ordering of corsages, boutonnieres, and mums. Then there were the decisions to be made about what to do for dinner before the dance and activities after. It was hard to keep up with it all!
Instead of going out to a restaurant, the kids decided to have dinner here at home. My girls and their group of friends had the homemade meal my husband made for them. (He took a vacation day so he could be here to cook since he’s the best cook in the house. Yes, I married well.) My son and his date had a romantic dinner of take out in our formal dining room using our china. After the dance, they all came back for pancakes.
To say that our house was full of life and laughter would be an understatement. The noise was enough to send my husband, oldest daughter, and myself to our back patio to give our ears some rest. And I loved it! I loved hearing them tell stories. I loved hearing them laugh. I loved watching the crazy things they did. Just thinking about it makes me smile.
I also loved watching them help each other out throughout the weekend. My oldest daughter went shirt shopping with my son who discovered his arms were too long for his sleeves. My son picked up the various flowers for his sisters. My daughter helped her sisters and their friends with hair and make up. Another daughter made sure that the pictures were just right. I also heard them complimenting each other on how fabulous they looked. (I know! Who would have thought!) It made this mom’s heart glad.
But there was some sadness, too. This was the last high school homecoming we will experience with our kids. And it’s a reminder that there are a lot of lasts yet to come this year.
So, today, I find myself trying to focus on future homecomings. Our homecomings won’t be centered on a game or a dance, but graduations, ring ceremonies, birthdays, holidays, funerals, reunions, weddings, births; those wonderful, important life events that are yet to come. And knowing us, they will be filled with a whole lot of story telling and laughter…
He just kept telling me to do it. So I did.
that ‘they’ were right…Those ladies who years ago would look at me with my five small children, smile, and then tell me to enjoy these years because they go by fast. I wanted to throw up every time someone said that to me. I understood what they were trying to tell me, but honestly, I was tired, overwhelmed, tired, stretched thin, and did I mention tired? But this week, I had to admit they were right.
In the last several days, I’ve seen a lot of lists of what not to say or do when you encounter someone who has.. a child with autism, suffered a loss, some difficult challenge, or…you fill in the blank.
