April Sadness, May Gladness
Forget about “March Madness”, even though for me, March really was quite insane. I mean, one Saturday in that month my household had a wrestling meet, a basketball doubleheader, an state level academic competition, and an indoor softball tournament. We also had a 40th birthday party that we could not attend, because our list of places to be never stopped.
My adrenaline was at full throttle all of that day and pretty much every weekend in March. So much was happening as my family said good-bye to winter and hello to spring chaos. Now April is mostly done and there is some relief, coupled with the hope of May.
April is My Friend, Sort-Of
I like the month of April. Mother Nature has a sense of humor and daylight savings brings brighter evenings. It also rushes in a collision between winter and summer sports. My oldest is running track and playing softball. My younger daughter is juggling soccer and two softball teams. Meanwhile my son is getting his shin guards and baseball pants plenty dirty with practices and games. Our youngest gets carted all over and I am pretending not to see the sign-ups for nature camp, t-ball, and swim lessons. Don’t worry, he is the baby and will be spoiled plenty as the years go by.
My husband and I like to be busy, hence choosing to give birth to four humans plus own a dog. And I really do like April, seriously I do! But now I feel like I am just defending this crazy month way too much. April for me brings a pressure point of hectic times. And a bit of melancholy that another school year has come and gone. As a mom, I love to see my kids grow and mature, but selfishly it would be nice for them to stay little a bit longer too.
Sad Face for April
The cliches all say to enjoy these moments and I am trying my hardest to embrace it all. However, with busy kids there is so much that gets lost in the shuffle. I am glued to my phone because it holds the color coded calendar of all activities. Plus the carpool text messages are my only life line. April may include song singing birds, but it also has double the games, double the activities, double the practices, and double the registration forms.
Whenever I get a little gloomy in April, I snap out of it and remember some folks have graduating high school seniors. Now that will bring on the flood of emotions! A few mom friends were sharing prom pictures of their children and mentioned feeling sad. This was their senior’s last dance. So many pointed out that the high school years went by at warp-speed. My oldest will be an eighth grader next year. I do not want any of her years to go by too quick. However, in a little over sixty months she will be an adult.
April is finicky enough with all the busy work. There is lot of planning happening in the midst of a school year. Especially a school year that is on the verge of wrapping up loose ends in regards to testing, final projects, and class awards. April rests for no one, but the parents of seniors have got to be feeling the heated pressure to get everything done before graduation. Stay strong mamas and papas!
Happy for May
The month of May often means everyone in school is checked-out with only a few days or weeks remaining. However, this May is more meaningful for those in my community because our children were fortunate to mask-up and be in school for the entire year.
I never thought I would be happy to hear my children whine about going to bed on-time because they had school the next day. Yet, after last year’s quarantine those complaints sound blissful. We are fortunate and I try not to forget it.
The school year ends in May and that means summertime! I adore summer. The Midwest loves being cold, so I cherish the heat. Even in terms of extreme heat, I am like “bring it on”, because I want warm sunshine versus frigid wind chills. Now I am probably jinxing my daughters in softball to have to don catching equipment in 100+ degree temperatures, but I will cross that complaint when it happens.
Until then, “April Sadness” brings me “May Gladness”
Parents of seniors feeling the gloom? You are not alone! Read this article by our friend Lynn Painter about her "baby" graduating from high school.