Dear ones, August is always a month of upheaval, isn’t it? At least for many of us. Katharina’s little one is getting used to nursery, many children start school after the holidays or move on to secondary school. And I have a lot of contact with mums who have children of a similar age to mine, so big kids… teenagers.
Large children: „Getting used to it first“
One of them sends me a photo of the back seat of the car because her „big“ 17-year-old is travelling in the front left-hand seat and her younger brother is sitting next to him: „You have to get used to it first,“ she writes. Another friend calls in tears, her „little one“, the 16-year-old, is going to the USA tomorrow for a whole year. Yet another sends me photos of her 16-year-old, who is leaving for his first day as an apprentice in the trades in his work uniform.
And I’m watching my „little one“ take off with his driving licence. He simply drove to the theory test alone in his 45cc Micorcar because we parents had to work at the time. He had to take a number, sit in a waiting room, be called up, sit down at a computer, answer questions and then wait until a „0 errors“ popped up on the screen. He exploded with joy inside. I later asked: And where did you put the joy? „In my little car,“ he said.
Especially when the „little ones“ grow up
When the „littlest ones“ grow up, it’s something special again. It’s no longer the first time, because perhaps the older sibling has already obtained a driving licence or completed an apprenticeship, but it’s the many last times that come into play.
Or the amazement that even the youngest ones are growing up and going their own way, even though they are our little ones. We can’t stop time and don’t want to, but their upbringing is basically over, we are there to support and guide them along the way, but they make almost all of their own decisions.
They speak other languages, they manage abroad without their parents, they fall in and out of love, they prepare for exams or not, they mess up during the holiday camp and behave themselves again after the camp management tells them to, they go to clubs and dance themselves into ecstasy or indulge in their hobbies or hang out in their rooms at home and we don’t really know what they’re doing.
Trying things out, forwards, backwards
They try things out, take two steps forward, maybe one step back again, they party, they love their cliques and spend more time there than at home, they think about their future jobs, they complain about too much stress because of school and then see their mates who only come back from training in the evening and are happy to have decided to go to school for a few more years after all.
When they’re sick, they bum around on the couch next to you, I’m writing this text next to the bacterial tonsillitis, because of course they’re already big, but being sick together is still nicer than being sick alone, I know that from myself when I have to lie down and the world just keeps turning downstairs.
Proud and melancholy
A photo of my friend from Frankfurt Airport arrives to say goodbye to her little one for a year and I get all emotional too, because I’ve known her youngest from primary school days.
My other friend’s trainee child is going into the trades and will never go to mainstream school again. And we parents stand proudly by and swallow for a moment, while at the same time we’re so happy. We’ve raised her!
