12 Lessons in 12 Years: Part 2

Welcome back! Last week I shared my feelings about nearly being an elementary school alum, and the first six of 12 lessons I have learned in as many years. If you missed that post, you can read it here.

Lately, I’ve been noticing we aren’t always mindful of our days. They are busy and full and sometimes we just want them to end … only to start the routine again the next day. We’re heading into our last elementary school month of May, so I’m embracing all the “normal” days I can around here because in a couple of months, today’s routine will ride past me on a big yellow school bus and stop at a house down the street, where little kids have juice boxes and spelling lists and ridiculously hard math problems for their age. It’s the end of a season — a delightful, exhausting, all-hands-on-deck time of life. For those of you still in its midst, I have a few more lessons to share:

 

12 Lessons in 12 Years … continued

6. The other parents in your elementary school circle are your companions, not your competition. Oh sure, there is always someone whose kid has the tricked out Valentine’s Day box or a laminated Star of the Week poster, while your little darling wrote her Reflections submission with a stubby pencil you found in the car. Don’t get drawn in to a win-less competition. Sit on your hands if you have to, but remember — you already went to school. Let your child take the lead on his or her projects.

5. Pull your kids out of school for the afternoon, or an entire day, and go do something fun! Take the absence and make a memory. It’s more than a fair trade.

4. No one cares what your couch looks like. I think many times we don’t open our homes to others because we are worried about what people will think — of our housekeeping skills or our out-dated appliances. The truth is, making a friend feel welcome has less to do with our furnishings, and more to do with our hearts. Your friend won’t remember the piles of laundry waiting to be put away, but she will remember that you made her feel at home and loved.

3. It is hard to be the new person. Our family moved to the school in October, and it was too late to make it into the directory. For an ENTIRE YEAR, we weren’t “listed,” and it was tough! Trying to break into an established crowd can trip up even the savviest among us. Make an effort to sit by someone you don’t know on a class field trip, or leave an open place at your auction table. Everyone wants to feel like they fit in.

2. As much as you are able, be present with your child. Drive the carpool, have the friends over, get in the pool with them regardless of what you think you look like in a bathing suit. One day, when you have more time to sit and think about it, you’ll be glad you did.

1. High school memories are made by your kids. Middle school memories are mostly blocked by everyone involved. But elementary school memories are made by parents sharing good and bad experiences: field trips, class parties, class pets, birthday parties, dance recitals, and sporting events. Your child’s elementary school makes as big an imprint on your heart as it does on theirs, and it won’t let you go. So as for me and the other graduating Wilchester parents of the Class of 2016, we’ll echo Zac Efron in High School Musical 3: “Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat!”

 

So there you have it — a little bit of what I’ve learned by spending the last dozen years in elementary school. Do any of these resonate with you? What have YOU learned? Share in the comments!

 

TWEETABLES

Other parents are your companions, not your competition. (Click to Tweet)

No one will remember your messy home, only that you made them feel welcome. (Click to Tweet)