Has it really been two years? Yes, it has been almost exactly two years to the day that I made a big life change, flipping our lives upside down. All of my own doing, of course. Today, August 25, 2025 is the first day of school. It's a day of reflection, appreciation for changes, and viewing them anew. Today is the day that I feel all the feels, but with a new calmness. There have been no tears, there has been no sorrow for what I could miss in the future. It's the day of living fully in the present and gratefulness for the past.
I used to refer to this time of year, this back to school time, as the season of change. It always seemed fitting because so much change happened all at once: schedules, routines, activities, how our life looked. Along with this thought of 'the season of change' came the thoughts that life will calm down once we get through this change. I can confirm, after many years of living this way, that that is false. It's a lie because there is no normal (especially if you have kids). Once you get through one change, that means another one is happening. It's an endless cycle really.
I recently heard something that still has me thinking and pondering. I would like to say I remember exactly where I heard this, or who I heard it from, but alas, I do not. It could have been in a class, in a meeting, in a coffee shop, in an article, or at a bar in a conversation with a random person. But this question got me thinking: why do people refer to changes as seasons when change is a part of every second of our lives? It wasn't a season when the minutes changed, the days changed, or we changed from our daytime into our nighttime wardrobe. Every second brings a change to a new second. Change is all about how we deal with it, how it's embraced. Change is forever ongoing in each and every day. Seasons are predictable, we know when they're going to happen. Change in its truest form is unpredictable; it's a process that takes discipline to appreciate it. To fully accept that each and every moment of our lives bring change, you must know that change requires effort, skills, and adaptability.
I still use today as a day of reflection, but not one of sadness or longing for what I had or what I won't have. Today, I have a Senior, Sophomore, and 8th grader. My kids are no longer kids, they are teenagers. They no longer require me to wake them up, they set alarms. They no longer require me to get them breakfast, dress them, or make sure teeth are brushed. I know very well this will be the last normal first day of school, but then I have to smile at this change because today wasn't even normal. It was marked with a midnight curfew to tp the school with his class followed by a 5 a.m. wake up call for Senior Sunrise. Change. With a new mindset, I look at today and this time fondly. I'm remembering all of the first days and all of the last days. Two years ago, I closed daycare, closing a portion of our lives, of my life, and started a new career. And what an adventure it has been! It hasn't always been easy and there are always days of doubt. I want to say I'm a better person, but I currently live in a lot of gray area where I push boundaries, sometimes my luck, and try to find the best way to do things. It's thrilling to discover myself, to unlock powers I never knew I had, to flex skills that I knew were just below the surface yet never got a chance to explore. I remember the days of sending my own kids and the big daycare kids back to school and being home with toddlers. I remember days of Boofest and apple scented play doughs. A part of me misses it, a part of me will always miss it. But everything I have now wouldn't have happened without the ability to change careers, change up our life.
Change has meant I get a thrill as I watch my babies grow. They have gone from my sidekicks to lives of their own. For the first time ever, we didn't finish our Summer Bucket List because their own lives took precedent over family time (or really anything mom or dad wanted to do with them). On this day, I'm appreciating all of this because it wouldn't have happened without change, without the ability to love what change can bring.
Pictures from the first day of 2025-2026 school year. Senior. Sophomore. 8th Grade.
