Does the Last Day of School Hurt Your Heart?

Discover why this annual rite of passage can be difficult for parents.

The last day of school is a strange bird. 

For many, it is greatly anticipated, earning a coveted countdown of its own that often starts somewhere after spring break.

Yet for others, the last day of school signifies something much different: the end of childhood.

But wait - shouldn't every parent be proud to usher their children through this annual rite of passage?

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Not according to Aimee Minnich, Co-founder of & General Counsel for the Impact Foundation.

In an article Aimee recently wrote on LinkedIn entitled, "Why does my heart hurt as every school year ends?", she gets real about the emotions she experienced on the last day of school this year.

Aimee starts by confessing,

Being a mom is so strange. Every year on the last day of school, I'm swept up in a strange blend of pride in my growing kids and sadness that they're growing too fast. Those social media articles making the rounds this time of year - like "18 summers" and all the graduation posts - just do not help. What does help is snuggling my kids and playing card games together, and jumping on the trampoline, and dreaming about our summer plans.

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And I dare say she's not the only parent who feels this way.

The one piece of parenting advice that has always rung true is that childhood goes too fast. What is it that they say? Oh yes, "The days are long, but the years are short".

What Aimee has touched on deserves some attention. In our social media soaked society, she gives us permission to not only acknowledge our God-given nature, but embrace the emotions we're feeling that may be contradictory to everything we see plastered all over Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and the like. She further explains,

Mourning over the passage of time is uniquely human. The mama bird outside my window is unconcerned as her babies fly away for the first time. We mourn as seasons pass because we are made for a world that lasts and lasts and lasts...and so I am grateful for this sadness because it reminds me of my real home (in Heaven). It reminds me to live for something more, something lasting. 

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Moms, no matter how tightly we try to hold on to our babies, one day they will leave us. But isn't that we were were created for as parents - to raise adults that would one day be capable to leave and cleave to a spouse of their own?

So hang in there, mama. Just as no-one knows your kids like you do, no-one knows your heart like you (& God) do. Take time to experience all that goes with this season and enjoy all the emotions that come along with it. 


Sami Cone

Sami Cone

Best-Selling Author & Speaker

Sami Cone is the best-selling author of "Raising Uncommon Kids", is known as the "Frugal Mom" on Nashville's top-rated talk show "Talk of the Town" and educates over a million listeners every day on her nationally syndicated "Family Money Minute". She is proud to call Nashville home with her husband, Rick, and their two ‘tweenage' children.

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