rituals

every morning when i drop off Kai at school it's usually at the playground. they play outside in the morning and then again right before i pick him up at noon. this makes it very convenient for our morning ritual: honking. as i drive off, i honk. and this is what makes the transition for separation easy (or easier) for little kai. honking when departing actually is a BIG ritual for our family. now when andy rides off on his bike to school he yells honk-honk down our street (can you picture it?). and this settles the kids, especially kai. maybe a bike horn is in order for andy.

if i, bad mama, forget to honk as i drive away from his school i hear about when i pick him up. boy do i hear about it.

this morning when i dropped him off and i was walking to the car, one of Kai's friends asked him to join him on the monkey bars. kai replied, "i have to watch my mama honk first." and my heart smiled. i was suddenly very thankful for this sometimes annoying ritual. and then i wondered how long will it last? one day i'll be sad when it's gone. will it one day turn into hurry mom leave before my friends see you drop me off.

and how long will all our family rituals last? sure they will change as the kids get older. but how can we keep them interested?

all this stuff is swirling in my head because my kai turns 5! on the 24th. that number seems so big. and when there's a 1 in front of that 5 i'm hoping we have family rituals that settle and comfort us all.