Linking up with Five Minute Friday today! The theme:

Lately I have been having a bit of trouble with the whole send off to school thing.

No – I know- it’s not that I actually DON’T want them to go to school. It’s a good thing, school. Learning. They get to do glitter there, and we DON’T do glitter here, so that’s a total bonus.

But, I have been watching the other mommies. Always a bad idea. Trying to match up against other mommies is badly baked Pinterest recipe for disaster.

There’s this one mom  – her kids KISS her goodbye and they both, completely ON THEIR OWN, say, “Love you, Mom.” This is SO ANNOYING. All that love and cuteness.

Here’s what I get. A sideways fist bump from Blonde. Sometimes. If I can catch him before he jets off to first grade, the Land of Fun.

Ok, true, Red does supply me with copious kisses and “I love you’s” That’s his way. But Blonde? He’s far too serious for all that love action. And so, he has become My Project.

I keep trying to think of the perfect send off. The cute saying, that sticks with him ALL day and just resonates Love and Goodwill and the Perfect Answer to Anything Difficult that I won’t be there for…

I have this other mom friend who sends her darlings off with a cheery “Make good choices!” I love that one. Wish I had thought of it. I mean, it covers all the bases. It reminds the boys that Mom is Always Watching, and that is a total win, in my book.

Plus, it probably keeps them from running with scissors with a sucker in their mouths while their fly is down. Awesome.

It seems I can’t come up with my goodbye phrase. It needs to be epic! One that will inspire and teach and really really STICK with them – like chewing-gum-in the-hair stickage, only in their little, permeable brains.

I tried out a few:

“Hey! Don’t Do Anything I Wouldn’t Do!” Won’t work at all. I’ve done too much.

“Hey! Live long and prosper!” Too geeky.

“Hey! Mr. Gobachev! Tear Down This Wall!” Too conservative.

“Hey! Be kind! Rewind!” Too… old?

Anyhow. I just stick with: “I love you. Have a good day.” And then I watch them wander off and think: There will be a moment today for them that is hard. There will be a difficult assignment, or a mean kid, or a lonely hallway. And I won’t be there.

I trust them to make good choices.  And they trust me to show up at the end of the day. To always pack a Hershey’s Kiss in their lunchbox. To pray for them and with them about their recess, which, as you all know, is kind of a Thunderdome for kids.

But I have to keep giving them to God, as they walk away, with their clunking backpacks that are bigger than them. I give them, and their massive backpacks to God.

It’s a daily giving – trust walk. It’s a giving out and a waiting, with empty hands, as they walk away, and I lean into God. I am just so very grateful I have You – you always had the best phrases around.

Here’s a few:

“Be strong and courageous.” Joshua 1:9

“Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart.” Proverbs 3:5

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

He has even overcome recess.

Amen.