So today was officially the last day of summer camp for my girls. They weren’t in camps everyday of the summer, mind you…. they attended various half-day camps here and there — soccer camp, vacation bible school, science camp, etc. And when I picked them up today, I could feel it — it was like a chill going down my spine… THE END OF SUMMER IS NEAR (yes, the caps are for dramatic effect).

And as my kids get older, I’m realizing that the end of summer/first day of school transition is incredibly bittersweet. While I have been counting down the days until they were no longer in the house fighting, playing, making messes and complaining, I am now faced with the reality that they aren’t going to be in the house anymore singing, laughing, dancing and creating. This summer where they are 7 and 5 and still in awe of the world around them…. This summer where my oldest daughter happily built an entire Polly Pocket city with her little sister and played with it for weeks… This summer where my youngest tells me she is still “the baby of the family” and that means it’s still okay for her to like baby toys…. It’s almost over.

And so we will be entering back into the world of activities, sports and ridiculous amounts of homework. No more sleeping in, days at the beach, morning movies with popcorn. No more lazy afternoons, impromptu playdates and week-long vacations. It’s back to working and learning for them — and back to time commitments and responsibilities for me.

I should have started out this entire entry by saying that this is my typical M.O. when it comes to my girls going back to school…. I get all weepy and sad. I call my husband after dropping them off the first day to tell him, yet again, how I don’t understand how it all went so quickly. I get very introspective and poetic about the “hands of time” and “living life consciously”. I think about how lucky I am to be a stay-at-home mom so I can be involved in their school and see what their lives are like everyday in the classroom… …. ….

… … … and then day two of dropping them off I am peeling out of the parking lot as fast as I can in the hopes that I won’t get nabbed by a teacher for afternoon language arts center duty.

Bittersweet indeed….