Welcome back to Reflections Thursdays in which I am reflecting on happiness, wellness, health and being your best self!  If there is a topic you’d like for me to cover, feel free to comment below.

Hello everyone.  Yesterday, Marielle (aka the CloudMom baby) started her last year of preschool.  For the first time, she’ll be gone all day, from 9-3.  When I arrived home for my first day as an “empty nester”, the house echoed.  I thought back to all the times when I could barely get anything done due to all the chaos, noise and small knuckles knocking on my laundry room/office door.  “Mommy, can I do this?  Mommy, can I do that?  Mommy, can I eat this?”  During those moments, I craved peace and a sense of accomplishment.  Yesterday, I craved having all my babies home again.

Sometimes in life the feeling of going through a transition, of passing to another stage, hits you so powerfully that you feel a physical reaction.  At times like these, not even the best parenting tips in the world can truly help. The tears came, first in a flood and then I sort of wiped my eyes throughout the day as I tried to work and get other things done.  Sitting here writing this post, I’m still dabbing and wiping.

To pick myself up, I repeated several times: Don’t Look Back, and The Best is Yet to Come.  I figured that type of positive thinking would help me more than continuing to think back to how things used to be during school days.

Turning from the mom’s perspective on this momentous day to the child’s, as we got ready yesterday, I marveled that this baby you might have seen swaddled up in the crib has blossomed into a young girl ready for anything!  “Why do you keep looking at me, Mommy,” Marielle inquired, noticing that I was taking note of her more than usually, and then she asked “why are you crying?”  I told her I had allergies.

I’ve taken that walk to preschool so many times I can’t believe it’s the beginning of the last year.  As we started when Hedley was four, this will become our 10th year there in a row.

Funny thing is, several of the moms I started with there when Hedley was two years old are back with their with their third or forth child in Marielle’s class.  I’m hoping to have some fun coffees with those ladies.

So yesterday proved to be a day full of transitions.  I said goodbye to having babies at home, and said hello again to Moms I have known now for 10 years.  I said hello to the pre-K teacher now looking after my fifth child, who has watched the kids growing up and who I adore and admire, and began the process of saying goodbye to the school that has been such a big part of our lives for the past 10 years.

Now it’s time to pick Marielle up and hear about the first day of school so excuse me while I go re-apply my eye makeup.

Here are some snapshots of my little wonder.

Love, Melissa