There always an answer

 If you’re following along you know that oldest is a senior in hs. 

There is no right path that he needs to follow but his wish and hope is to go to college so that means in a year from now, he will not be sleeping  in the room down the hall from me. 

If I think about this for any amount of time I admit, I get a little ill.

 I wish my mom was around to ask how she managed this.

I come from a line of worriers so I’m sure this crossed her mind once or a thousand times. 

Actually, she used to tell me her biggest fear was that I would get roped into joining a cult. 

Which is somewhat humorous because cults weren’t known around my neck of the woods.

She meant, however, that she felt I was susceptible to being a follower.

And that was a realistic fear to be honest because I wasn’t very self confident at the time. 

So the fact that I will not know what my kid is doing every day feels foreign.

Im sure I’ll get used to this but it will be new territory.

A new chapter.

I’ve spoken to parents who have kids diving into college head first and loving every second of it. 

Making friends, joining clubs or the Greek life, enjoying independence.

I also have spoken to parents with kids not having the time of their life that they expected to have.

Making friends is hard.

Leaving home is hard.

New chapters are hard.

At 18 

Or at 53.

We have expectations that aren’t always met.

We try, we fumble, we get up again, we may fail. 

But we have to keep getting up.

So try new roads.

Find new pathways.

Set smaller goals.

Change directions.

There’s always an answer.

Wishing the new college parents 

And the new college students

Giant hugs

And hope I can remember my own advice 11 months from now.