I got an email from Stage Mom blogger and longtime magazine contributor Lynn Trimble today. She asked me a question about something she was working on and then added:

P.S. LIZABETH LEAVES FOR NYC ON THURSDAY!!!!!!!!! (I wonder if she’ll ever come back!!)

I knew she was kidding — kind of. I remember well the competing emotions she will be feeling as her youngest heads out into the big world on her own. Elation, pride and excitement of course. But always that twinge of sadness that comes with knowing that nothing will ever be the same as it was.

I remember a song we moms used to sing with our kids at preschool: “My mommy comes back/She always comes back/She always comes back to get me…”

It was meant to allay the fears of little ones who often became anxious and clingy when it was time for Mommy to say goodbye.

Now some of these kids are saying goodbye and it’s the moms who are feeling anxious and clingy. As one who has been there, I can vouch for the fact that grown children “always come back,” too. Not for long, sometimes, and not always easily or comfortably. But enough to let you know that you still matter in their lives.

Tags: blog, Lynn Trimble, postaday2011, Raising Arizona Kids, Raising Arizona Kids magazine, separation anxiety, Stage Mom, Writer

◀ Writing letters of recommendation || New tools, old tactics ▶