My heart swelled and broke simultaneously. I wanted to help him and had to resist approaching the ringleader to ask if my boy could play too. Even though he is only five and -- hopefully -- far from the years that my mere existence will utterly embarrass him, I knew he didn't want me to interfere.

Last year at this time, the birthday party would have been a sweat-inducing experience at a minimum, and probably would have included some tears -- from both of us -- and a quick exit.

It isn't that I'm over-attached to my son. It isn't that he's young and a little scared and I'm feeling guilty about leaving him. The trouble isn't that I'm leaving my son for too long, it's that I haven't left him often enough.

The power of the mother-daughter connection keeps catching me by surprise. I didn't know we would stare at each other for hours after she came out, I didn't know my boobs would squirt milk just thinking about her, and I certainly didn't anticipate this next round of attachment.

Dealing with separation anxiety when kids return to school can be heartbreaking. Here are a few ideas of what may help to mitigate the anxiety for both of you.

Dear Susan, My son is 3 years old and this is his first week at pre-school. He is having a hard time adjusting. My husband drops him off because ...

My daughter will be fine, I tell myself. She will be fine, she tells herself. And yet the ache of longing for both of us makes us, if only for a moment, wish to stay put in our safe harbor, to stand fast in the life we have made.