In two weeks, both of my babies will be heading to school.

I’m excited. And sad. Ready. And nostalgic.

I know to call it empty nesting is a bit dramatic. I’ll drop them off every morning and pick them up every afternoon and it will be many years before I’m truly empty nesting.

But I am dramatic and I don’t know what else to call the child-free hours (where I’ll be cleaning and studying and volunteering and hopefully having lunch with my friends) so “empty nesting” it is.

I don’t want to dwell too much on how quickly the baby years and the toddler years and the preschool years have gone because time is still going. If I stop for too long thinking about all the past stuff, I’m going to miss all the amazing stuff right in this moment.

I know it’s gotten popular to romanticize the early years. To talk about how fast it all goes and how much you’re going to miss it. People can go on and on with the “one day will be the last time {fill in the blank}” until you’re bawling. Let’s not be those people.

Am I going to miss certain things? Absolutely. But there’s also a whole slew of things I don’t miss and a few things I’m even looking forward to not missing.

I want my children to grow up (it beats the alternative) and I want to (as my mom once said) work myself out of a job by teaching them to be independent and capable. Just not all at once.

School starts in two weeks and both of my babies will be in elementary school. It’s going to be very quiet around here and yes, I’m a little sad. But I’m mostly happy. They’ll be learning new things, making and developing friendships, and seeing a little more of the world. And I will be too.

I think that’s something to celebrate.