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Last week my family embarked on our annual Jersey Shore “vacation.” I use the word vacation loosely, as we are a family of five humans and one puppy. As I sat in my beach chair by the water, I had a realization that brought tears to my eyes. I sat comfortably in my chair, collecting the shells Lyla found. I scanned the water to check on A and N while they played with their cousins. I looked over and noticed a mom of four children under five. Just as I did, she dragged her chair down the beach to sit at the water’s edge to watch her children. She sat in the sand, holding a bouncing baby under the age of one; the two-ish year-olds sat in her chair while the five-year-old dared to run into the ocean up to his knees before darting back to his mom. She kept watch, never relaxing for a moment. You can’t when you are watching such young children at the ocean. The thing was… I was relaxed. I wasn’t reading a book with a drink in my hand relaxed (I am not in that chapter of parenting yet), but I was undoubtedly in a different chapter than she.

How did this happen? Where did the time go? Am I ready for it? Should I move down to the sand? To say I had a moment is an understatement. This happens. Our kids grow up. We don’t see it happen because we live down in the weeds. We are doing all of the things to prepare our children to grow up: enroll them in sports and activities, buy them new clothes and shoes as they grow bigger, grocery shop to feed their healthy bodies, arrange playdates to help them grow socially, send them off to school, make time to visit with family, teach them things, provide them with experiences, make core memories… the list goes on and on. So does time. Suddenly we look up and see someone we used to be on the beach and realize that time has moved on, our kids have moved on, and things have changed. It’s okay. This happens.

Some of you are sending your children up to the lower school, which is certainly a new parenting chapter. Others up to middle, high school, college, or first-time real jobs, and those are even bigger chapters. Although September is not the start of the calendar year, for school-age families, it is absolutely the start of a new chapter in the book we write as parents. I encourage you from the bottom of my heart to slow down these last two weeks to enjoy the great story you are writing. Take time to dig into this next chapter. Don’t speed away from sports drop-off; linger and wonder who that “big kid” is running away from you and towards their teammates. Instead of creating an Amazon list of school supplies after your children are in bed (I am the Queen of online shopping, so know this is a hard one for me, too), go to the store and notice the joy and independence your children feel when walking the aisles and selecting their items. Help them fret over their first day of school outfit. Ask them to help make their lunches. Relax in your beach chair and notice the great story you are writing and the chapter you are about to embark upon!

Originally shared on August 18, 2023