I know that
many of you would think that my first blog back would be about our newest
addition Ms. Berkley Taylor; however, as I gather my messy hormones and my up
and down baby emotions, this morning’s God trinket was just too good to not
share.
Letting go
and releasing my children into each new stage of life has never been a strength
of mine. I could quit possibly be the reason why the term “helicopter parent”
was even invented. I like to hover.
When our
daughter Parker started Pre-K, the level of stress and worry escalated. Why you
ask? Well because she was only one year away from Kindergarten of course. I
know, silly….one whole year of worrying about letting her go and seeing her
grow up too fast. We survived Pre-K with a terrific year and a wonderful summer
to follow but then it inevitably happened. The day I dreaded for so long was
upon us and I thought I might just completely come unglued. There was something
that happened though the day before that took me from dreading the day of drop
off to fretting that she may not even get to go to school.
While brushing
Parker’s hair, I discovered lice…..and when I say lice, I mean….LICE
EVERYWHERE! Feeling like mother of the year
for not noticing it and allowing it to get so bad, I went into immediate panic
mode and called my wonderful partner in crime, Becca, to come over and make sure
this truly was what I thought it was. After all, she was a former Kindergarten
teacher and had seen plenty of lice in her days of teaching. She confirmed my
worst fear not just for Parker but also for Cooper and we immediately went to
work.
Shaving
Parker’s head was not really an option the day before school even though it
would’ve been the easier choice. Instead, Becca and I set up shop in the kitchen
with our lice kit, 2 children and a movie playing on the portable DVD player to
distract the unhappy customers while we attempted the impossible. We tagged
team each child and worked for 3 hours straight going through each and every
strand of hair. I have truly never seen anything like it. I was no longer
fretting about Kindergarten, in fact, it was no longer even on my mind.
Talk about a
distraction!
Needless to say, Parker made it to school that
next morning and I still giggle when I see pictures of her first day of
Kindergarten because her hair was the cleanest and most beautiful hair I had
seen. For some reason, I can’t stop itching my head while I write this J
Three years
later and now it was Cooper’s turn to go to Kindergarten. Cooper brings with him
a certain level of humbled confidence and so the worry factor was not as high.
I have tried hard not to dwell in the idea of him going to Kindergarten; however,
as the weekend before school was quickly coming to an end, I could feel the stress
building in my mind. I knew that it could get really ugly though with all the new
baby hormones if I allowed myself the opportunity to think through the events
of what was getting ready to happen.
The final
distraction came when I asked both kids to layout their school uniforms for the
next day so they would be ready to go. It was then that we realized that Cooper
had no uniform shorts. What? How could this be? We carefully went through all
of our hand me downs a few weeks before and tried everything on, washed them
and put them away for the big day….or did we?
My brain
cannot always be trusted and now adding a third child to the mix, it has
certainly not helped my cause when it comes to doing crazy things. Apparently,
Cooper’s shorts got mixed into a wrong pile and were delivered to Goodwill. Hmph!
We scrambled for a pair of shorts and friends came to the rescue with more hand
me downs. It was in the midst of the scrambling though that one thought came
ringing through my head…LICE!
I realized that shorts were much easier to solve than spending hours combing through his hair for lice. My blood pressure quickly returned to normal with more of a chuckle and an A-Ha moment. Could this just be one more gift from God so I can focus on the important things rather than morning the necessary ending and the start a new phase of life?
We now jump
ahead to day #4 of the new school year. Our school participates in staggered
start for Kindergarteners so today was technically Cooper’s 2nd day
of school but first day with all of his new classmates…all 21 of them. Yikes.
Blane drove both children to school and I anxiously sat and waited for the phone
call and play by play of how the drop off happened for both children.
I felt the overwhelming
need to go to my devotional but instead I poured my cup of coffee and started fervently
praying. The phone finally rang; however, it was earlier than I had expected.
Blane’s voice was cool and calm (as always) with no concern in the world as he
explained to me that everybody did great and everyone walked themselves into
class. What? By themselves? And so the Mommy mind kicked in quickly:
this was only Cooper’s 2nd day…could he find his class on his own…they entered at the opposite end of the school and he had to walk further….would Parker ignore him and walk away from him with her friends….could he possibly walk right out the other side and off the property….
The
helicopter parent in me had been grounded. There would be no flying for me
today as he ventured into this new journey of growing up. I knew I wouldn’t be able
to hear details of if and how he found his classroom until later this afternoon
so my thoughts quickly went back to that devotional I ignored earlier when I
got out of bed.
It was just
like God’s style and I think He may even be showing off a little with this one
and His perfect timing. Here is what today’s exert says (and the first line was
of course in bold letters as to make sure He got my attention):
“ENTRUST YOUR LOVED ONES TO ME; release them into my protective
care. They are much safer with Me than in your clinging hands. When you release
loved ones to Me, you are free to cling to My hand. As you entrust others into
My care, I am free to shower blessings on them. My presence will go with them
wherever they go, and I will give them rest. This same presence stays with you,
as you relax and place your trust in Me. Watch to see what I will do.”
Jesus Calling, Sarah Young (8/23)
It almost
sounds like a challenge…”watch and see what I will do”. So does God give us
lice or make our brains go foggy so we inadvertently give away school clothes
to Goodwill?
What I do
know in confidence is that He uses every situation and lets nothing going to
waste to help get our attention and live fully for Him in every aspect of our
life. Letting go of my children’s hands is so difficult but I know that they
are not mine but rather they are only entrusted to me for a short time to care
for and to raise up in the faith.
Isn’t it
reassuring to know that although we can’t be the helicopter parent, God is and
He is hovering in our life and the lives of our children!
Kelly
xoxo
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