Beautiful Life Friday- Choosing Gratefulness

I sent him to school on Wednesday.
He had no regrets, no second guessing, no asking himself:
"How did I get to be five so quick?"
"Didn't I just used to be a baby?"
"Where has the TIME gone?"

No, he just hurried onto the bus and found a seat. When I, on tiptoe, craned my neck to try and get a glimpse of him, all I could see was his little head emerging slightly higher than the seats, looking out the window on the other side of the bus. And that was it, my baby had gone to school.

For 13 1/2 years I have had a child in my care for 24 hours a day. Even during years when Maura was a half day pre-k and David a kindergartener, they were morning and afternoon, one of them was always home. So here I find myself, home in a quiet house and it's new again. Just like it was new to be a mom at home with a baby, this is new again, and that's okay. During the summer, when this would cross my mind, I would feel the self doubting begin to seep in. "Did I even pay attention to the past 5 years?" "Did I give him and them a good start?" "What if I wasted the time I've had with them and now we've moved on from that phase?" I am prone to the wondering, the doubting, the faithlessness. God turned my attention to the things that make me realize this phase is a blessing; and a time to grateful.

He reminds me that I have been graciously granted:

Four children:

• Who live in my own home. I do not share custody of them, I do not see them only on select days of the week. I get to have them with no stipulations. My husband and I tuck them in at night and get them up in the morning.
• Who have a wonderful father that is a wonderful husband. I am thankful that Gord is such a great father and cares about our children with all his heart.
• They are all healthy children- what an incredible blessing this is. Incredible to me.

With this in mind and heart, I recognized life changes, such as having your baby go to school, is not something to be dreaded; it is to be embraced and celebrated. The feelings of anxiety and fear slowly gave way to (tempered) excitement and anticipation.

I am grateful for those precious years that I had to watch each child go from complete dependance on me, to marching onto the schoolbus without a backward glance. But I still don't know where the time went.

Here they are returning home from their first day.

It's Beautiful Life Friday at The Inspired Room. Click over to see what makes life beautiful.