Back to School: Reflection

As we’re stepping into a new school year and trying to get back into some kind of routine, I have to be honest—it just hit me: I’m not ready. I’m not ready for another school year to start, not ready for the chaos of schedules and homework, and definitely not ready to blink and see another year of my kids’ childhood slip by.

I look around, and my heart sinks a little. I only have six more summers left with my oldest before she heads off to college. Six. That number feels way too small. And then there’s my little toddler—my tiny baby—who only has one more year at home before preschool starts. It feels like these milestones just sneak up on us, and suddenly, I’m realizing how fast this season of life is flying by.

Sometimes it’s a hard pill to swallow knowing that strangers will spend more hours of the day with our kids than we get to. Why is that the norm? I mean, I went to college, but honestly, most of what I learned in high school, and even some of what I studied in college, I’ve rarely used in real life. And that degree I worked so hard for? Let’s just say it didn’t exactly set me up for a life of luxury.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m 100% in favor of kids getting an education, whether that’s homeschooling, private school, or public school. Education matters. But why does it have to come at the expense of so much of their childhood? Why do our kids have to spend the majority of their waking hours somewhere other than home?

I know people who completely bombed high school, skipped college altogether, and still ended up earning way more than I did back when I was working full-time. And the friends who did go on to college? So many of them are still paying off massive student loans while working jobs that don’t even come close to covering that debt. We were all told, “Go to college, get a degree, and you’ll be set for life.” Well… clearly someone got that memo wrong, because that’s not how it turned out for a lot of us.

So yeah, this is just me ranting for a moment. I don’t have the answers or some big plan to “fix” the education system. Honestly, I wouldn’t even know where to start—it’s such a huge, complex issue. But it does make me wish we could give our kids a little more freedom to just be kids. To have slow mornings, lazy summers, and more time at home with their families without a mountain of homework, activities, and schedules hanging over their heads.

Maybe that’s unrealistic. Maybe it’s just me being sentimental. But it’s where my heart is right now. These years are slipping through my fingers, and some days, I just want to hit pause.