My heart is growing so much it feels like it will burst. Do you know how it feels like when your eyes burn from the inside and even if you don’t want to cry you can’t blink away your tears? It affects your whole body. It really is mixed feelings, both good and bad. You can barely breathe. I am talking about how it feels when you watch your kids grow up and when they make you so proud it feels like you want to scream it out, let the whole world know how great they are.

Another school year passed, we have a long summer break to look forward too. I know this summer will pass too fast and when the fall comes it’s probably going to feel like we’ve had a few short weeks off. I hear a lot of parents complain that they don’t know what to do to keep the kids busy. We don’t have that problem at our house, we are just happy to do absolutely nothing. It’s good for kids to be able to hangout, sleep, be a bit bored and relax. They need to figure out how to do nothing by themselves, give them time and space. Let them sleep, make a mess or bounce the same volleyball 1000 times at the same wall. Don’t keep them busy with camps and playdates the whole summer. How would you feel if your schedule was filled up every single day? I know that I get bored and I feel overwhelmed.

It was the last day of school today. A short day, only time for an assembly. We are used to that the last day means kids dressed in colorful summer outfits, strawberry cake and singing. The sky is always blue, everybody sings Den Blomstertid and we end the school year with a big smile. Our kids keep getting a dress on for the last day of school, even if it’s been more than 5 years since they went to a Swedish end of the year ceremony. It is a nice tradition and I think we all miss the nice, happy ending with a beautiful speech and lots of music.

We got a message last week that one of our kids would get an award so it would be nice if we could attend the end of year assembly. I don’t know why it hit me this time. It is huge. They have been getting awards more or less every semester since we moved here. It is very heartwarming. Your heart gets warm from inside out. It grows. And it is hard to keep the tears away. They all have so many great teachers and counselors.

We are fortunate to have three amazing daughters. They are very much alike but also very different from each other, three different personalities, different strengths. I have no clue how we managed to do so well.