A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook encouraging those of us with children in some form of life transition moment (which is pretty much everyone with school-age kids), to go ahead and acknowledge the emotional nature of the moments, to "embrace the hot mess."
This really connected with me as we have a lot of major life moments happening this month. Even as one major moment happens and ends, another one is close on its heels. It's all the feels.
So, I am trying to give myself and my family two gifts as we go through this June gauntlet.
1) Be present - This is an idea that another friend and I have been discussing lately as she also has a ton going on, but we want to enjoy each moment for what it is. So, I work to make sure that I am focused and present during the graduation or move-up ceremony because this moment is THE moment for this event and this child. I put aside any thoughts of planning, or packing, or arranging for the other things happening because this moment deserves its time and I know that the time will pass all too quickly. It's not like I don't remember there are camp bags to be packed, or forms to be filled out, or goodbyes to say. I'm just not going to deal with those RIGHT NOW.
2) Don't Judge Emotions - I am acknowledging that there are A LOT of emotions wrapped up in all these life transitions - happy/bittersweet/pride/fear/nostalgia/excitement and more. I can feel them all at once, not at all, or in any combination. I am pledging to myself to not judge the emotion and just go with it. I expected to cry at the High School graduation, but when I barely did, I realized it was because I was just so happy and that's a totally valid reaction too. I am also remembering that there are emotions for all the other people involved in these transitions and we might not be feeling the same emotions at the same time, so we have to be patient and understanding of one another.
If I can do both of these things, I believe it will make the moments and the memories all the sweeter.
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