Celebrating Mommy Milestones

For the past few days I've been walking around in a daze, just going through the motions.  I've been on edge, having a hard time sleeping.  I can't seem to pull it together this week.  I finally realized what it was.  My baby is graduating preschool. 

I had this same response when my first daughter started kindergarten. I wondered then, as I do now, why I was having such an emotional reaction to this milestone in my daughter's life. Of course they're big occasions and big changes in our lives and that always brings tremendous stress.  On top of our day to day routine, I'm busy making plans to celebrate her accomplishments. I'm preparing her for what lies ahead and working on rearranging our schedules to accommodate the reality of this new phase of life.

But it's more than just a simple change in routine.  It finally dawned on me that I hadn't figured myself into the equation.  I hadn't fully recognized what a momentous milestone this was for me as a mom. I hadn't stopped long enough to celebrate what I had accomplished -- the carpools I'd driven, the lunches I'd packed, the fund-raisers I suffered, the illnesses I nursed -- to get her this far.  I hadn't allowed myself to fully grieve for the sweet little toddler/preschooler I was leaving behind -- the one who couldn't say her "r's" for the longest time and bounced up and down for joy every time I picked her up from school.  I hadn't yet realized how quickly we had arrived at this next phase of life when it seems like she was born just yesterday.

We often act like we're simply casual observers and ever-present cheerleaders of our children's lives when really we're integral to their growth and success. Of course we moms can never publicly take credit for that success -- it's written in the fine print of our mommy contract.  But when I finally realized why these mommy milestones had such a major effect on me, I wanted to take advantage of this wonderful sorority of moms to recognize our collective achievements in getting our children to where they are today, whether you're celebrating a milestone or not.

Next week, my friend's baby will be graduating high school.  I can't imagine the meltdown she's having right about now.  But she also wisely planned a trip to Europe with her kids for right after graduation. While I'm not going to Europe, I do plan to relax and enjoy a few glasses of wine this weekend. However we do it, we should take the time to simply acknowledge these momentous mommy milestones and reward ourselves for a job well done.

An original Deep South Moms Post.  Amy@UWM is a mom of an 8 year old almost 3rd grader and a 5 year old preschool graduate.  She also blogs at her personal blog Up With Moms.