Every Mother's Day for the past number of years, our family has headed out to one of our favorite spots, the Konza Prairie. This native tallgrass prairie preserve is a sacred space, where the beautiful Flint Hills cut against the wide-open skies, where lush green grasses sprout up in the freshly burned ground, where native bison and snakes and native species jut across the horizon.
Mother's Day falls in May, which, as every parent of a school-aged child knows, is the busiest, most chaotic, most all-consuming month of the year. Perhaps this is why the break from regular life into nature feels especially cathartic. At home, I am consumed by questions. Will my creative, quirky daughter survive high school? Will my artistic, curious son be shunned because he does not enjoy sports? Am I giving my children enough independence? Am I giving them too much? Am I worrying enough about the important things? Am I worrying too much? Out on the Konza Prairie, I can let go of the daily parenting anxieties gripping my heart and focus only on the present moment.
Being out on the Konza is a chance for us to rest as a family, to strip away other distractions and focus on essentials. At home, there is homework to finish, planners to sign, instruments to practice, carpools to run, dinner to cook, daily minutiae of life to manage. Out on the Konza, there are only wide open spaces, our slow footsteps up the deep hills, making our way through the trail, together.
It is a rare gift we can find these moments of peace on Mother's Day, one of the busiest Sundays in the busiest month. But my wish for you is that in May, you can have a moment of calm to step away from your spinning internal worries, that you can simply be with your children away from any schedules, that you can feel recharged as a family amid chaos. Because all of this frenzy will one day fade away. And these moments with our children are what will stand. Happy Mother's Day.
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