McFly...McFly...

So it is back to school day today.  This day ushers in the return to routine for many folks.  It is kind of a late year new resolution time.  Back to the gym or to eating right or to regular bedtimes.    For me it is some of that but mostly it is back to the future for me.

No, I do not have a Delorean – sad face – but I do have a bit of a time machine:  Old photos.  They capture moments in time.  I tried my very best to be that mom who took the photo of the kids on their first day of school.  I have many of the early years and I will freely admit that at least one was taken a day or so late.  But somewhere around junior high those ended.  Probably a mix of teenage distain towards me and my overwhelming relief that they were out the door for 6 to 8 hours per day lead to this photographic documentation breakdown.  I admit to celebrating more than one back to school moment with a shot of Baileys in my coffee and toast to me for not being arrested for a rendering a child silent over the super special summer break.

Today I have a different non-Baileys toast though (non-Baileys becasue I have to go to work soon).  This toast is not to me but to The Kids.  I toast them for having graduated high school.  I toast them for having at least one good friend that they can count on and a few more waiting in the wings.  I toast them for both being strong enough people to know what they do not want – for now – because they have the rest of their life to figure out what they do want.  I toast them for making me (and The Husband) crazy with some of their choices and decisions and having the fortitude to challenge ours.  I toast them for being good people with big hearts and open minds.

Life lessons cannot be taught.  They have to be lived.  I am not a teacher of such lessons but I am a student.  Every day opens a new chapter and it is up to me to let the lesson of that day resonate.  My photo today looks different than it did 14 years ago.  The Girl was out the door early to work on her way to her next chapter.  The Boy was gone soon after on his way to his new beginning, text book in hand.  The Husband is immersed in his next edition.  And me, at the moment I am hanging with The Dogs before work.  And this is all good.  It is time to put the back pack on and get learning.