the baby turns 18 on monday
It’s that time of year. Fall is getting closer. There is a morning chill in the air. The kids are heading to college. I see the posts on social media and the mixed emotions of the parents. It is a huge life step for these kids. It’s a huge life step for these parents.
I don’t know if I am going to be ready next year when Tayler goes to college. I have mixed emotions. I wonder how quiet it will be around the house without her meowing all the time. That’s her thing. Her annoying little thing that she does when she wants attention. She will say meow. And then she will keep saying meow until we acknowledge. I wonder if I will miss that. I wonder if we will be okay without her. I wonder how she will do without us. She’s not a normal kid. She has actually been raised pretty much as an adult. She has been around adults and around us always. People comment all the time about how mature she is. She’s the kid, that even though it is her senior year, she still wants to hang out with us and do stuff with us. We usually go out to supper on Fridays and she usually comes along. If she doesn’t, it always, “Hey mom, will you get me a salad with a chicken breast please.”
She turns 18 on Monday. She’s the last one. I am still trying to process that. I can still remember being pregnant with her. I can still remember what a great job Dr. Minder did delivering her. Every.single.time we see him out anywhere, he ALWAYS asks about her and wants to see pictures of her. He has a special bond with her. A lot of people have a special bond with her. She is an amazing kid. She has a heart of gold and would help anyone who needed it. She is very caring.
As a parent, you always wonder if you prepared your child well enough for the real world. You wonder if they will survive the real world. They always think they know everything, but we as parents, wonder if we taught them enough. If we showed them enough. If they will be okay. If they will even survive. Did we spoil them too much? Did we make them do enough? Did we prepare them enough for life? I hope so.
As I see all the social media posts, I saw one in particular that spurred this post. The post was from a friend of mine from long ago. Her name is Hattie. She has that quiet beauty, that natural beauty. She posted how it happened in the blink of an eye. How her baby is going off to college. The overwhelming feelings and how they say it will pass—-and she said it may pass like a kidney stone. Her nest is empty. Ours is almost empty.
I can’t believe the baby will be 18 on Monday.