Tag: moms

"To the mom sending her first child to college" by Barb Szyszkiewicz (FranciscanMom.com)

To the Mom Sending Her First Child to College

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I saw you yesterday in the supermarket.

At this time of year, in the place where I live, there are two reasons a whole family might be in the supermarket at the same time on a Saturday morning: they’re on their way to their shore house for the week, or they’re sending a kid off to college.

Since I ran into you in the laundry aisle, where you were carefully explaining the purposes of each product you placed in the shopping cart to your teenage son, it’s a good bet you’re about to be the mom of a college student.

Your husband waited patiently during your laundry tutorial, and your son seemed confused by the whole thing. (I’m not going to judge you for not making him wash his own clothes before now. I’m all about not doing laundry until there’s a full load, so in my house, it’s family laundry, not individual laundry.)

And you looked equal parts excited for him and bravely trying to hold it all together.

At the checkout, your family lined up behind me, with your cart full of paper towels and laundry stuff. You asked your son if he would need any mayo.

He was done with the whole thing, clearly, and barely mumbled an answer. That’s the reason I didn’t greet you and ask you what college he’d be going to, and wish all of you the best — I didn’t want you to get back to the car and get a lecture from your kid about talking to nosy strangers in the store. And I didn’t want to intrude on your family moment.

As a mom who’s done the college move-in 11 times before (we homecolleged in 2020; 0/10 do not recommend), I really wanted to let you know that he’d be OK. He’ll probably mess up a few things in the laundry, and he probably won’t make his bed all semester. Those paper towels are more likely destined to be plates for pizza than used to clean something.

I wanted to let you know that if you cared enough to take him through the store and show him how to use fabric softener, you’ve probably done a good job all along. I wanted to tell you that it’s hard to let the first one go, but it’s also exciting to see what he accomplishes. I might even have bragged a little about my kids, all now out of college, all with good jobs in their chosen field of study, 2 out of 3 homeowners (so far; one just graduated in May).

But mostly I wanted to let you know that he’d be OK, and so will you. It’s going to be weird for a while, and you will dearly miss him, but it’ll be OK.

Thinking about it now, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this yesterday.

 

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Copyright 2024 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Images: Canva

New from Lisa Hendey: A Prayer Calendar for Catholic Moms

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Lisa Hendey's Prayer Calendar for Catholic Moms -f

Space on my desk is precious real estate, only to be granted to the things that really need to be there: computer, planner, Post-It notes, a box of tissues, a mini-storage unit for clips and stickers, and a mug of pencils, pens and markers. I’m trying to keep my office neat. But I’ve added a perpetual calendar next to the Our Lady of Fatima figurine who stands by: Lisa Hendey’s new Catholic Mom’s Desk Calendar.

Flipping to the correct date, I found my very favorite psalm waiting for me, along with a beautiful prayer by Lisa.

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Copyright 2017 Barb Szyszkiewicz. All rights reserved.

As you can see from the photo above, the color scheme is a calming blue, tone-on-tone. I’ve chosen almost that exact shade for more than one room in my home. The serene colors invite the reader to slow down, quiet down, and enter into a moment of prayer.

You don’t have to have a desk to display this prayer calendar. You could keep it on your nightstand, bureau, or even the kitchen counter (though I fear that if I tried that in my tiny kitchen, it would be splattered with marinara sauce in short order).

I have plenty of calendars in my office. I display two months of the calendar at a time, because I need to see that much for work. I have a Google calendar on my computer. And I have a planner on my desk. But this calendar is different. It’s not part of yet another to-do list for my family, my household, or my job. This calendar reminds me that “only one thing is necessary,” as Jesus told St. Martha, and I need to embrace that.

Here’s a sneak peek at January’s calendar entries! Note that this is a spiral-bound perpetual calendar, not a book as pictured below, but you can get a good look at what the beautiful pages look like.

Each day begins with a quote from Scripture, a saint, a pope, or the Catechism, followed by a brief prayer related to that reading.

Place this calendar where you’ll be sure to see it each day, and enter into a quiet moment of prayer in the midst of your busy life.

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Copyright 2017 Barb Szyszkiewicz
This post contains Amazon affiliate links; your purchase through these links helps support this blog. Thank you! I was given a free review copy of this book, but no other compensation. Opinions expressed here are mine alone.