Wear the big sunglasses, mama.
They hide your tears as you watch your grown child walk away from you to attend his high school orientation.
They hide your fears and doubts as you sit and ask yourself, have I been a good mom? Is he ready?
They help hide your tears as you smile and wave at the mama sitting next to you in her mini van who is also wearing the big sunglasses, even on a cloudy morning.
Wear the big sunglasses for the big moments, and mama, yes they are all big moments to us.
These glasses hid my tears as I hugged my boy goodbye on his first day of preschool.
They hid my tears as I walked away after putting him on the big yellow school bus for the very first time.
Then again as he finished elementary school.
They hid my tears as he smiled on our front porch suddenly taller than me, so we could take a picture before his 8th grade promotion.
These glasses have seen my small boy grow into a young man. They have helped me navigate this long, but heartbreakingly short journey we call motherhood.
From the moment our eyes met, my heart grew, and from that moment on I've been watching a piece of my heart walk around on the outside.
So every time I have to watch him walk away, my heart breaks just a little. It's my job as a mom to raise him to go out into the world and be a good human, and so I will continue to let a piece of my heart go year after year, because in the end he was never mine to keep. He was mine to hold for a little while. He was mine to walk with for a little while, and for now he is mine to drive around and talk to for a little while. I'm going to soak it all in, and when it comes time to watch him fly, I will know that he's ready even though I'm not. Because the truth is, no mama is ever truly ready, and that's why I'll wear the big sunglasses.

This post originally appeared on Outsmarted Mommy by Jennifer Lizza