Talk to Me Thursday: End of Summer Feels

I'm going to be honest with you today — I've got all the end-of-summer feels, and they are a lot.

My girly is starting first grade in a little over a week, at a brand new school, and I am anxious about all of it. New building, new teacher, new friends to make, new routine for both of us. I know she'll be fine. I know kids are resilient and adjust faster than we ever expect them to. But my mama heart is still sitting with the nerves anyway.

Soaking Up What's Left

I've been trying so hard to soak up these last couple of weeks of summer before everything shifts into a new season. Slower mornings. Later alarms. More time just being together before backpacks and bedtimes and homework routines take over again.

And if I'm being honest, that's where the mom guilt creeps in too. Between work and everything else on my plate, I haven't gotten to do everything with her this summer that I would have loved to. There's this quiet ache that comes with knowing summer is almost over and wondering if I made enough of it. If I showed up enough. If I was present enough in the moments I did have.

I don't think that guilt ever fully goes away. I think we just learn to carry it differently.

The Day We Both Needed

Last Friday, I took the day off, and it turned out to be exactly what both of us needed. We spent it at the pool with her bestie — just soaking up the sun, splashing around, no schedule to rush back to. It was mom time and kid time all wrapped into one perfect, simple day.

Nothing extravagant. No big plans. Just presence. And it reminded me that the moments that matter most aren't usually the big, planned-out ones — they're the ones where you just show up and let the day be what it is.

Where I'm Landing

So here's where I'm at: still anxious about first grade. Still carrying a little mom guilt about the summer that went by faster than I wanted it to. But also so grateful for days like that Friday pool day, and for however many more slow mornings we've got left before school starts.

If you're in this season too — watching summer wind down, feeling nervous for your kiddo's next step, wrestling with your own version of mom guilt — I see you. We're in it together. 🤍

xoxo,
Katie

If this one hit home for you, I'd love to hear about it — drop a comment and tell me what season you're in right now.