Of course, as always, there will be many mixed emotions as we take this seasonal change from a pretty nice summer into fall? For mothers everywhere there will be that sudden silence around the house as the kids head off to school and won’t it be that perfect time to re-arrange the furniture, and maybe even relax a just a little? For our farmers it will hopefully bring a bountiful harvest, and for every member of the family there will be exciting new sports and events to look forward to, no more bugs and the end of those boring television re-runs.
For our exuberant students from age four to teens there is that once in a lifetime experience of play school, kindergarten, grade school and college…. hopefully the best and most fun years of their entire lives. Each year of school education means new classmates, teachers, friends and the challenging adventures of learning, the awesome jump into high school, more homework, dances and on and on.
If you are off to college or trade school you should be excited about embarking along an exciting new path of education that will most certainly mold your future, as well as being away from home for the first time, and trying to adjust to new friends, trends and lifestyles. It will be great, all that freedom, but I promise that you will look forward to that first long weekend or holiday so that you can slip back home to share your stories with your favourite family, get dad to fix the noise in the car and really appreciate mom’s home cooking over macaroni.
Fall likely means a new wardrobe for all occasions, brisk fresh air to stroll in, leaves to rake and gardens to raid. In the back of our busy minds we might start thinking about ‘winter world’, but before we dig out the long johns or dash out and winterize the old jalopy, lets really enjoy some fabulous Indian summer first. Whatever comes our way we are proud and tough Albertans who always somehow manage to adjust and survive, but then again we may go out and book our annual winter escape to the land of hot beaches and bikinis.
The truth from the mouths of babes
What does love mean to four to our eight year olds?
*When my grandmother got arthritis she couldn’t bend over and paint her toe-nails anymore so my grandfather did it for her all the time even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.
*When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You must know that your name is always safe in their mouth. (Billy-age 4)
*Love is when a girl puts on perfume and boys puts on cologne and they go out and smell each other. (Karl-age 5)
*Love is when you go out to eat and share your French fries, and what makes you smile when you are tired or sad.
*Love is when you kiss all the time, and then when you get tired of kissing you still want to be together and talk more. My mommy and daddy are like that, but they look gross when they kiss. (Emily-age 8)
*When you really love somebody your eye lashes go up and down and little stars come out of you. (What a precious image by 7-year-old Karen)
*If you want to learn to love better you should start with a friend you hate. (We need a few more million Nikka’s (age 8) in this world of ours).
*Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt and he wears it every day.
*Love is when a little old man and a little old woman are still friends even after they have known each other for a long time.
*Love is when your puppy licks your face even have you have left him home alone all day, and when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken.
*I know that my mommy loves me more than anybody because you don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.
*You really shouldn’t say I love you unless you mean it, but if you truly mean it you should say it a whole lot, because sometimes people forget.
*The most caring child award…. goes to the little four-year-old boy whose next-door neighbour had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man crying the little lad went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed on his lap, and just sat there for a long time. When his mother later asked him what he had said to the neighbour the little boy sadly explained, “I said nothing, I just helped him to cry.”
*A wise school teacher sends this little note home to all parents on the first day of school: “If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I will promise not be believe everything he or she says happens at home.” Please drive very carefully as our precious future is flashing past our vehicles on their way to and from school, to the rink, or to meet a new found friend at the playground. Have a great week, all of you!