NOT another back-to-school blog

I intended to write something great about sending your little ones back to school.

But, geez…isn’t that boring?  Here is a standard blog in a nutshell:

Kids need more sleep, good food, a little more sleep, and some gently nudging back into an organized lifestyle (it’s tough for all of us, isn’t it?)  Sprinkle some stuff about making friends and making time for homework, and BOOM, you have yourself the standard back-to-school blog.*

YAWN.

As I frittered away my time, trying to not write the above, I came across this:

 

No longer forward nor behind

I look in hope or fear;

But, grateful, take the good I find,

The best of now and here.

 – John Greenleaf Whittier

 

Now this, this is saying something.

You see, a couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to find myself with some amazing people at The Omega Institute.  There was Susan Cain, who talked about the beauty of the introvert, as well as Sil Reynolds talking about the beauty of mothers and daughters.  But the real reason I drove to Rhinebeck, NY?  To hear Dr. Gordon Neufeld talk about his book, “Hold on to Your Kids”; a book that has left an indelible impression on me as a parent and a coach.

He talked (and talked) about attachment and “you see,” he would laugh, “you all already know how to do this.  There are no secrets here, secrets of how to attach to your children, of how to connect, of how to love.  You know how…it is your parenting birthright.”

I got chills and I knew that I would be learning from this man.

So, I suppose this blog is about going back to school…for me!  As Shakespeare said: “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.”

After all, I know enough to know that I know some about life, a bit about parenting (and nothing when it comes to cooking).  I know the best I can do is “take the good I find, the best of now and here.”  And Dr. Gordon Neufeld is “the best of now and here.”

Learning never ends.

So, as I start to learn again and make myself vulnerable to change, let us remember that our children are vulnerable, too.

They have grown over the summer, changed, made mistakes, had adventures, and forgotten their schoolwork.  They will again (and courageously!) head off to school, meet their teachers, see old and new friends, hope people like them, and worry that they are pretty/smart/athletic/funny enough.

This is brave stuff.