Marly Unmarginated

Well folks….sharpen your pencils and your patience because it is back to school time! That magical season where Target aisles look like a battle zone, lunchboxes loom and moms everywhere are clinging to coffee (in my case Dr. Pepper) like it’s the lifeline it truly is.

I’ve got one grown daughter out there adulting (God bless her), and one heading into 5th grade, full of sass, sparkle and more outfit changes than a pop star on tour.

Let me break it down for all my fellow moms, dads and anyone else feeling like they’re barely holding it together:

⏰ Early Alarms and Late Starts: Remember summer? When mornings were slow and glorious? Yeah, that’s over. Now it’s alarms blaring, cereal flying and the Olympic sport of finding shoes while flying out the door. The school bell waits for no one….the later in the year, the later we get sliding in tires squealing at the bell.

🚙Parent Pick Up Line = Survival of the Fittest: The car line is a sacred (and slightly savage) space. Where time stands still and your patience is tested. There are unspoken rules. It starts off innocent enough. You think “I’ll leave a few minutes early and beat the rush”. HA. You roll up and there are already 27 cars ahead of you There’s the power mom who brings snacks, a podcast, and a mini office in her front seat. There’s the first time kindergarten mom who arrives at noon for the 3:30 bell, bless her sweet anxious heart There’s the me time mom arriving early for a slow down, a quiet space and maybe a bit of reading. And then there’s that one parent who cuts the line like they have a presidential pardon. We all see you, Karen. We all see you. 😂

🧃Pack It Up, Pack It In (Let me begin…again): Packing lunches sounds easy…until it’s the 37th day and you’re scraping together an “inventive” combo of random lunch meat rolls, string cheese pulled apart to feel fancy, four crackers left in the sleeve, and two baby carrots (because you care). And theme day? Don’t even get me started on finding crazy hats, some cute school appropriate pajamas and something that starts with the letter Q.

📅 Schedules? What Schedules? Between homework, volleyball, church activities, game days and the occasional meltdown (hers or mine…who’s to say), my calendar now resembles an abstract art piece with color-coded chaos.

But also…the Magic! 🪄

There’s a moment after the chaos. When she walks out of school, hair a mess, face flushed, waving at me and she is beaming. That’s when I remember why we do it. The growth, the grit, the friendships, the figuring it out.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s not just our kids heading back to school. Maybe we’re learning, too. To let go a little. To laugh at the mess. To love the season we’re in, even when it’s wild.

Here’s to all the parents navigating backpacks, BIG emotions, and breakfast battles. To administrators, teachers, coaches and support staff giving their all. To the magic of new beginnings, messy middles, and meaningful memories.

To all the parents juggling the chaos and all the students stepping into a new chapter, may your year be full of growth, joy and the kind of magic that only school days can bring.

So let’s do this, y’all! And if not with grace, then at least with a strong cup of coffee and a sense of humor.

Until next time, from the margins where the magic lives…Marly