My daughter will be turning 5 tomorrow then starting school in August and I'm having such a hard/ sad time with it. We aren't having anymore kids so I think that might be some of it. I had a hard time when my son who is 8 started school to. Anybody else get sad around there kids birthdays?? Thanks
It's so bittersweet, isn't it?
When I had my son, my cousin, whose girls were older, told me "it just keeps getting cuter and cuter!" I doubted that, looking at my newborn. But you know what? My son will be 9 in the spring--and it's true!
Hey, My daughter is turning 5 tomorrow too! But I don't feel sad about it. Guess, I'm excited for all the new adventures she gets to have! Good and bad we'll share them together.
Wish I could tell you it get's easier but it doesn't. My baby turned 5 in June and I cried for the entire month well at least that's what it felt like. She started Kindergarten in September I fell apart once again. I even posted about how sad I was feeling. I had a really hard time with it, I still do. The other day she hurt her hand and I immediately picked her up and carried her around the way I did when she was a baby and I loved it. I felt so alive again. It get's harder but then come the moments when they do something so big kid like and your proud of them for doing it and so somehow the universe balances itself again just for a short period. Good luck, hang in there and it's okay to be sad.
My baby will be 5 in March and I'm not liking it either. I love to watch my kids grow, but to think of how fast time has gone is insane.
My oldest will be 9, and then the middle one will be 7, and the baby 5 in 2012.
It just goes WAY too fast!!
I always hated to see them grow up but it's normal and why we had them really. But it's even harder to see them turn 43, etc. Be glad it's only 5!!!!! I do understand your feelings though, really.
My oldest turned 5 at the end of October (youngest is 2), and I, too, am having the hardest time with 5!!!! I was so sad about a month leading up to it, and I think 5 seems to be the magic age for starting Kindergarten. I think that's my real hangup even though he's in his 2nd year of preschool. I doubt I'll cry on his first day of Kindergarten, but 5 is giving me fits of melancholy right now. I mean, where did the last 5 years go??!?!?!
I understand! I am trying to get rid of clothes mine have outgrown (14 months and 4 yrs) and it's killing me! I've hoarded an entire box of my daughter's clothes because I remember how cute she was in them and I am not ready to let go of that yet. :) As another mommy wrote here, we have to look forward and get excited about the adventures to come and not think of it as losing the sweetness of the past. Hang in there and good luck!
My daughter is turning 5 in march and I dread it! She starts school in august ad well and im picturing myself a bawling mess when that time comes. I do have a 15 yr old but it was different back then and I worked and it wasn't as hard (I still cried all day when he started). I've been home with her since birth and I just can't imagine myself without her allay! I just can't! Im not having anymore and it makes me sad. I can't help it. Im worried for her and I will miss her. I've given myself to my family in that time I have lost myself. What helps me personally is thinking that I will finally have H. time! I miss the old skinnier, more vibrant me and maybe ill find her! I know its hard mama but make a goal for yourself and get in to the mind set of being excited for her! She gets to go and learn and make friends and get independence. That's what I keep telling myself anyway!! Big hugs to you!
** I dropped my son off at high school this yr and my baby starts kinder this yr! Big, yet exciting things to come...
My oldest just started kindergarten this year, so my perspective is different. I was excited. I tend to get very excited about the adventures coming up. I also tend to be thankful for all that we're leaving behind. All day kindergarten (and being ok with being gone all day) opens up a whole world of possibilities for summer camps or summer classes at the YMCA. I think about all the fun things we can do together because he is growing and maturing.
My kids are 5 1/2 and almost 3. My brothers kids are 3 & 5. We do lots of things together, and some of them are fun but a really struggle at times because of our little ones and their limitations. We look forward to many things that we'll be able to do in a year or two. In October we took them to a Corn Maze. They had fun, but they only lasted about 1/3 of the time it would take to actually complete the maze. So we took what we could and thought about how next year we might be able to finish 1/2 of the maze.
I know there will be other challenges ahead, but I really do focus on the challenges we're leaving behind and all the doors that opens. For me, it just keeps getting better and better.
I always thought I was the odd mama. While other ladies would be groaning in the spring that school was almost out and they had to put up with their kids at home all summer, and then they were getting all excited about the kids going back to school in the fall.... I was just the opposite. I loved having my kids home with me and dreaded school opening each fall. Oh yes! There were those days when the kids got underfoot and I wanted a break, but for the most part, I wanted them home.
What I found helped me to deal with these feelings was to be very involved with their school. Teachers can always use an extra hand or two in the classroom, and there are other volunteer jobs that you can do at the school that help them out a lot while giving you and 'inside track' on your children's education. If you have one or two days a week that you can offer to volunteer for several hours, it will keep you feeling closer to your kids. And, be sure you look ahead to the various holidays and days off that your kids have from school. Plan to not be so caught up in the routines of housework and such that you can plan to spend some good quality time with your kids on those days.
BTW, I'm now at the point of feeling some of what you're going through at the various milestones of each grandchild. It isn't quite the same, but let me assure you it still gives the old heart a lurch to realize how fast they are growing up.
Not sad, but nostalgic. But the excitement of what's to come always overshadows that!
I ALWAYS feel melancholy on my kids birthdays. I look at their baby books & photo albums and watch our home videos from when they were babies, and have myself a boo-hoo fest! I also start getting baby crazy around their birthdays and thinking we can have another one when it really wouldn't be best for our family to do so. I try to enjoy their birthdays, but it's too bittersweet and I end up wishing I could keep them little forever! You're not alone!
