Between soccer, Sunday School, and learning all the states in the U.S., we don’t have much free weekend time.

As a mother of two growing children, I’m getting used to following along behind. I want them to be cautious and hang back and stay young just a little while longer. But they see a wide open world ahead of them, without a danger in sight. They want to run free.

Our fourth grader has to be able to label all the states in the U.S. on a map in five minutes.

As I was walking our boys toward the school entrance yesterday morning, Leo ran on ahead to get inside. Daniel stayed back with me, but when we were still a distance from the school, he said, “Can you walk back to the car now?”

It’s not often I get one-on-one time with one of my nieces or nephews, and I love learning more about each of them.

God gives us each different talents. Some of us are better with cats or catechesis than catapults, but there’s a role for each of us.

At the end of each school day, you might think that our children happily share every detail about recess, math class, lunch, what their teacher told them, and how many friends they made.

Today, you see, was not just the first day of the school year. It was the first day of a school year at a new school.

He wasn’t even supposed to be there. The 15-year-old cat had been at the vet the day before. His health was failing, and there was nothing more that could be done.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a gathering of Catholic women bloggers in Front Royal, Va. We drove down as a family of four, and my husband and our boys went off to explore Skyline Drive and the Skyline Caverns during the day.