Saying Goodbye.. why is it sad?

I never disliked back to school time - yes, summer is over but it wouldn't be a special time if it lasted forever. From the end of June to August, we are blissfully activity free and we usually eat dinner at 8 pm or after the sun has set and kids have spent plenty of time outside.

But...

 I really love buying school supplies and I used to organize a pretend classroom for my stuffed animals when I was little. I like school, I like that my kids go to school and this year I'm returning to teaching. I like structure and being alone in my house every once in awhile. 

We haven't sent the youngest kids back to school yet (one week to go) - but the entire family packed up our oldest and delivered them to college. We cried our way through June and graduation season, cried our way through a graduation party and knew this pesky move in date was coming... But it still snuck up on us. 

On Wednesday, we drove to Buffalo State and unpacked all the things - including an 18 year old person. It's so strange to feel 17 inside and now be the embarrassing parent who wants to wear a bright orange Buff State Mom shirt all of the time. I'm remembering what it was like to move into a new place, sharing quite a small space with strangers but also making some of the best friends you'll ever have! I have confidence that my kids will be more successful in academics than I was at the start of college... But that's another story why I was a hot mess at that age. 

And in true Muppet fashion, I always think of the song "Saying Goodbye" from The Muppets Take Manhattan when I'm going through something sad that I also know is temporary. Moving is hard, the unknown is hard, stress is hard, working towards a goal is hard. 

So while our whole family of seven was hugging and drying our eyes... A group of college students walked in a said, "Awww, how far away do you all live?" Ummm, 20 minutes. It's 20 minutes away and we are literally coming back tomorrow because of a scheduled dental visit. 😜 

The kid looked at us like we were bonkers... And I'm ok with that! Cheers to college and back to school, whether you want to go or not. Cheers to all of the other families that cry openly about any type of change. And cheers to the Muppets for giving me a soundtrack to last me all of my days.