school started......

My baby boy is a senior.

Shut the front door! Get outa town! No frickin' way!

I was just there a minute ago myself. And since I skipped my 25th High School reunion, I still haven't been back to see my old stomping grounds for like.....25 years.

It seems only yesterday I was completely absorbed into the every day crazy of three kids in three different schools on three different tracks because someone thought that year-round-school was a good idea.

Now we have transitioned to a life at warp speed. The end is coming and transitioning your kiddo to life outside the nest is not for wimps.

Thought I had this one in the bag. I felt confident and pretty invincible for a while. Thought we were covering our bases. But the truth is there isn't a real "END" at the end of high school.

I find myself wondering how well I have prepared my little one for the outside world. How resourceful is he? And since a teenager communication becomes intensely cryptic in nature, I have to rely more on my mother's version of ESP to divine the future.

My death grip on control has taken a serious hit and I have had to let go. He's out there. He's taking his knocks, skinning his knees and making some mistakes. The choices have more far reaching consequences now but I can't make him want anything anymore.

Ty and Spence are still the same. The only difference is that they are towering over me. My man-boys are moving on.


So really, it is my school that has started. The school of learning how to be an empty nester when I'm 43.