Back To School

School time has come once again for the girls and myself.  We were separated for part of the last school year but at the start of this year it's just me.  Even when we were together, he was not as actively involved with schooling as I was so not too much has changed in that area. The difference now is that when I was filling out paper work that children bring home the first week (emergency information, etc.), there are now two different addresses on the forms.  It felt kind of weird writing a different address on the parent #2 line instead of writing same as above for the first time ever (our oldest is in the 11th grade).  However, this is our reality now.  I wasn't upset or angry.  It was just a reminder that we really are separated but doing fine.  

I look at our children and I am so thankful that they have really adjusted well to our new normal. Even birthdays for the girls this year was different.  Instead of a card from Dad and Mom, we each gave our own cards and presents. I jokingly said to one of the girls who celebrated a birthday recently, that it pays to have parents that are separated because you  now receive two gifts instead of one.  She laughed and said it does.

The blessing for us is that because of his work schedule, over the years he has missed first day of school, birthdays, holidays, school performances, etc. so  it is not out of the norm for us when Dad is not around.  He works in a profession that does not have the typical 9 to 5 Monday-Friday work schedule.  I will say that I was pleasantly surprised to see that even though he was working a 24 hour work shift on the first day of school, he was able to take some time from work to see the girls for a few moments.  When I arrived at the middle school to pick up one of my girls, daddy was standing there waiting with her.  It was a pleasant sight.  That was something that he had never done in the past.  Being separated can lead to a positive change in a person.  When you are not bitter, you grow and become better.

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