As the days ticked down to taking my daughter to camp, I noticed a familiar flutter of anxiety building in my chest. She’s been to camp before, but this year felt different—bigger. Two full weeks away. Twelve hours from home. A whole new state. I can keep myself busy for five days, sure… but twelve?
Like I often do during life’s tender moments, I found myself reflecting on the parallels between this experience and those shared by so many of the mamas in our FCYKC community—especially during the prenatal and postpartum seasons. Dropping her off at camp felt so much like the first day returning to work after maternity leave. The big, messy cry. The brave face. The deep ache of leaving your child in the hands of someone else while your heart whispers, but no one knows them like I do.
And still, alongside the ache, there was a quiet joy. A knowing. I was so excited for all the adventures she would have. I could already imagine the new friendships, the discoveries, the challenges that would help her grow into herself just a little more at Camp Miniwanca.
The drive to pick her up brought another wave of memories—those days I raced home after work in healthcare, heart pounding, counting the seconds until I could scoop up my baby. I may have bent the speed limit just a bit, then and now, because that mama pull is so real.
It’s been thirteen years since I drove away from my first baby, and twelve since the second. And still, this tender tug on my heart reminds me that our children grow, but the bond doesn’t fade—it deepens. Even as we transition into a new school year I feel the gentle Mama tug while they head off to school, and the joy of seeing them grow and learn.
So to every mama out there navigating transitions, whether it’s sending your little one off to camp, school, heading back to work, or preparing to meet your baby for the very first time—know that you’re not alone in the stretch and pull of love. It’s what makes us mothers.
Full Circle Yoga KC is family centered yoga studio in the heart of Kansas City specializing in fertility yoga, prenatal yoga, and postpartum yoga.
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