Change is good, right??

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. 

-Winston Churchill

I am in the midst of some very big changes in my life.

I have always resisted change, but I have also learned, and continue to practice the theory that change is not only necessary & inevitable, but it can also be good thing.  It challenges us, makes us grow emotionally, and opens up new doors.

Goodbye old desk...

First major change - just a couple weeks ago, the very same week my principal got a promotion,  I was asked to interview for a new position, which also happened to be a promotion. In a matter of two days, my boss was leaving our school for a job at our district office, and I got the job at a new school. I moved from a school site where I have loved my principal, staff, students, and parents to a new position and a new principal, where I only knew a couple of teachers.

Hard to believe everything fit in one box!

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

-Frederick Douglass

It has been a bit of a process for me to "let go".  Like I said before, I truly loved the teachers, the kids, and the parents where I was.  For 8 years I have worked with a core group of amazing and talented teachers.  It was very hard to leave.  Not only did it happen quickly, but also during our Summer break, so I did not get to see very many of my co-workers and especially the students and parents I have grown to love, before I left.

I am still adjusting to that part.  On the other hand, I am tackling new challenges.  A whole new position, which includes new task and duties, as well as some I am familiar with. I am meeting lots of new people and getting to know a new principal, teachers, and co-worker.  So far, I love my office co-worker, she has been warm, welcoming, and so very helpful as I adjust to my new job.

I am challenged for sure, but also optimistic that I can make a difference to the students and families here.  That is what I hope for anyway.  The demographics are slightly different, the needs of the students at my new school are much deeper than where I came from.  There is no PTA, very few parents volunteer in the classrooms, a big change from my old school.  

My girls

Another big change that will be a far bigger challenge, is I will soon have an "empty nest".  My oldest daughter is moving out in just a few days.  I can't believe it.  Seems like just yesterday she graduated from high school and was starting college.  Now she's graduated and ready to face new challenges herself. Time to be a real grown-up.  How scary and exciting all at once!

My youngest starts college in just over a month, so she will be leaving too.  Fortunately she will not be as far away, so if I really need to see her, I can get in my car and be with her in just a couple hours.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
-Allan Watts

As a friend recently said, nothing really prepares parents for this.  Our kids growing up, leaving home, all things that are supposed to happen, but still difficult for moms and dads.  I am working on letting go, but even so, there is a pit in my stomach when I think about them both being gone.

I know I will be ok.  I have many friends and interests to keep me busy, not to mention the extra hours I've been spending at work adjusting to my new job.

But it will still be hard, there's just no way around that.  I will miss my girls so much.  Over the past 10 years that I have been a single parent, we have grown so close.  We are the 3 Musketeers   Don't get me wrong, we disagree, we even fight sometimes, but they are everything to me, and I think they feel the same.  I love them so very much, they are my world.  So, I will keep my chin up and be happy for them as they start new adventures and become strong independent young women.  

I have so many hopes and dreams for them, I look forward to watching their lives unfold.

So for now, I accept the changes in my life and even welcome them!