As the backpacks get bigger, so does everything else

As I look over the long supply list for this upcoming school year, the first thing I think to myself is we’re going to need bigger backpacks. My son’s preschool backpack will not hold the many binders and folders that are on his kindergarten list. My daughter’s current backpack has already endured three years of elementary school and now that she’s about to enter the third grade it’s on the fritz. 

It’s not just the backpacks that get bigger each year—the kids do too. The problems. The math homework. Their little worlds. My 5-year-old son has only ever eaten at his desk with his same little group of friends. He’ll now be in a large cafeteria surrounded by strangers that, in time, will become friends. My daughter is entering the grade where girls start to have cliques and gossip, where I’m sure she’ll come home and have follow up questions for me. I have barely been able to help her with this new way of math, that seemingly changed overnight from when I was younger, so I can only assume that the math will also be bigger and harder for both of us. 

I remind myself that along with the bigger backpacks are even greater adventures and possibilities. They will get to forge new friendships, learn new facts we can talk about as a family and attend their first real field trips. My children finally get to attend the same school together, meaning one drop off and pick up line for myself. Everyone knows if you can cut down to one car line, that easily saves you five hours a week. 

Soon we will go shopping for bigger backpacks, with an even bigger list of school supplies than the previous year. As I think back to how much they have grown—not just in backpack size but also in their self-confidence and strength—I will relish our time together each passing day that’s left of summer. 

As our children grow, we too evolve as parents, growing and changing together. But one thing will never change—nothing will ever be bigger than the love I carry for them.