clay and cookies, deal with it
for the past 18 years, my kids have been my scene. i anticipated the days my cuties would begin pre-school, then elementary school, even middle and high school. but what i failed to factor into our lives, was the day our first born child would move out of our house for college. i hadn't thought about that and when the time came for our son to move into his dorm, i began to panic. had we done everything we'd set out to do? had i baked enough? did he learn how to properly do laundry? does he know how to write a check? did we instill enough tradition? did i teach him how to make a bowl out of clay?
i think my husband and i have done a pretty good job getting everything done in time, but i'd like to go back and add a few more things. i can't believe i hadn't thought about the harsh reality that time is ticking and you have a relatively small window of opportunity to teach your children how to be happy and healthy adults. am i the only one who wasn't thinking ahead?
my husband says i am eerily calm about our son moving out. i'm not sure if it's the ol' calm-before-the-storm or if i am just confident that we've done a good job as parents and that he is a good kid. i trust him to make good decisions and to be responsible, so i'm not too worried in that regard, but i miss seeing him every day and peeking in his room while he sleeps. i miss his hugs and hearing his voice and the way he runs up and down the stairs. sure, he'll come home for breaks and summers, but i'm not sure things will be the same. he'll have grown in many ways and i will take notice like other people do when they haven't seen him in a while.
i'm not ready for that.
we still have time with our daughter to do and teach the things we may have forgotten. i've read that sometimes siblings suffer in silence (say that three times fast) when their brother or sister moves out of the house. we're keeping an eye on her and watching for signs that she needs a little extra TLC.
i cope with stress by being creative. while working with clay is my creative outlet, baking is therapeutic for my soul. so i grab some of my handmade bowls, a few ingredients from the refrigerator and pantry, and i start mixing. and i make cookies! the only problem is... my son isn't here to gobble them down. maybe that was the inception of the care package tradition -- moms or dads baked and their children weren't home, so they sent the baked goods off to college. hey, that's it... our new tradition. xo
