About three and a half months ago I wrote a post about the trials and tribulations kidlet #1 and her peers were experiencing being in their last year of school, applying to colleges etc. and how I don’t remember it being as much of a full-time job as it is for kids today. Looking back, I was wrong. It is not only hard. It is a massive pain in the ass.
And then there’s the anxiety that comes with all of it. Seventeen year olds running around, stressed out and figuring out where they are supposed to go in life. They are stretching, feeling their way. In some aspects, incredibly independent and sure-footed and in others, still very much a child. Needing, wanting the reassurances that they took for granted now and again. It’s an interesting time to be a parent. Especially if the very things that make you crazy and ready for them to go off to college, are the same traits you know will help them succeed when they are on their own.
I haven’t written about it a lot on this blog, but kidlet #1 had a life changing medical event occur just over two years ago. I’ve blogged extensively as it was happening but suffice it to say, it’s come with some ongoing challenges that she has to work with and around. She’s also had to readjust how she sees herself and what she judges herself on, her goals and dreams. It’s reflected in the schools she decided to apply to, her determination to complete the process for one of our nations service academy’s, even in the likelihood that she’ll be disqualified due to the medical issues.
Once she received her first college acceptance letter, along with a rather generous scholarship I thought we could take a collective breath. A sigh of relief. As in “yes, see, you are going to college honey.” The key word being thought. I understand that the now 3 schools that have accepted her are not in her top tier, but really, she’s going to be going to school, in the geographic region she wants to, it’s just a matter of which school at this point in time.
DH has tried to temper our ongoing arguments, between kidlet #1 and me, the tension between getting homework completed and prioritizing all of her extra curricular activities. The tension between a hormonal, smart, 17-year old and that of a hormonal, not as smart, 48-year old. Not an easy place to be for DH, at all.
When I met Lady M a few weeks ago, it was because I was in a city with said child for her to be recognized for a national award. Lady M was awesome, asking me if I was proud. Well, yes, of course. But the reality is, as a 17-year old she will be even more insufferable. Ugh! Don’t misunderstand, she is a good, well-rounded kid, growing into a better young adult. But that’s not the 17-year old that DH and live with everyday. We get the 17-year old that is safe in being her unreasonable, teenage self in the safety of her home with her parents and her (poor) younger brother.
One of the parents sent this video around earlier this week and the “reply all” was swift. On one hand we can’t wait until the fall and the next step in their journey and on the other we are coming to grips with the fact that they aren’t so little anymore.
is me is really me 