Labour Day Change Up

In a few hours another Labour Day weekend will have come and gone. And oh, how so very different they are now from those of yesteryear.

They used to be a bustling few days of school shopping with the girls, doing copious loads of laundry and back to school organization and preparations. Usually the Jerry Lewis Telethon was the soundtrack on the eve before the first day of school. Kids would be bathed, new outfits carefully laid out for morning, lunchboxes packed ....

This weekend was a little different. The first part was spent at the cottage with hubby overlooking the sketchy weather to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We came home last night to avoid the traffic and wake up in our bed to enjoy a full day of downtime.

The house is oddly quiet. She just left and headed back to university. Yup we are officially empty nesters.  Kidlet is starting her second year and spent the week in ready mode - slowly stock piling her stuff in the dining room, in the spare bedroom, in the hallway, the laundry room ... get the picture?  She was out and about for most of the day, tying up loose ends, saying her goodbyes and finally dropped around after dinner to pack the truck and head off. She isn't going far - just under an hour away - but when she planted a parting kiss on my cheek and called a cheery "bye Mom" as she closed the door behind her, it snuck up on me. That melancholy little empty feeling that reminds me that the time is drawing that much closer when she'll pack up for the last time for permanent leave. The days are numbered.

So as the chilly autumn air moves in to remind us that summer has moved on as well,  the house is emptier and quieter, and the copious mounds of laundry are folded and put away, another Labour Day weekend has come to a close. Tomorrow we turn a new page to a fresh start. I suppose a part of us never loses the "back to school" feeling and all the changes that go along with it.

And part of me - just a little part of me - wishes I was sending three little girls off to school in the morning.