The Dog Days of Summer

It’s that time of year, back to school is just around the corner. I laugh along with everyone else at the memes on Facebook – the exhausted parents sitting on the porch after the school bus has driven away – toasting the end of summer. But inside my heart is breaking – just a little.

As a parent of college kids, back to school signifies a break from the blissful chaos of summer, the unstructured days, the house full of friends, the late-night dinners and weekend bbqs. The end of summer is bittersweet. The kids will be heading back to their cool colleges around the country and I will be left with summer memories (and a pile of dirty clothes that didn’t make the packing cut).

Like most moms, I have loved every stage through which my kids have travelled but there is something especially dear to me about this “almost grown and on their own” stage we are in right now. No longer kids, not quite adults – my kids are interesting, good natured, funny humans. I love watching their independence emerge and their grown-up personalities develop. I love that think about and talk about important stuff, that they have opinions and are not afraid to voice and defend them. I love that they bring their friends around for dinner and we sit at the table and laugh and talk for hours.

I approach each summer as if it could be the last one. Jobs, relationships, exciting opportunities are just around the corner. Any of these could entice them away from home. It is, after all, part of the grand plan. But as the dog days of summer slowly give way to the fall – I will cherish these last few days of chaos, wish them well and shed a tear as they set off on this next set of adventures.