As Bryce walked out the door to go take the ACT, I said in a serious tone, “Wait, I want to take a picture,”. His eyes rolled and he responded that I always want to take a picture. I giggled and said, “Just kidding! I wanted to see your reaction.” Truth is, each moment I have with him is stepping us closer to when he leaves for college. Then I ask myself, is he ready? Am I ready?
This week we have had several serious and somewhat unusual conversations all prompted by either something he heard or simply a topic appearing out of nowhere. While he was registering for his senior year, we were chatting about what he was taking and then the conversation spilled into underage drinking. With the family history of alcoholism – on both sides – Bryce is overly educated. I think that it is important not to hide the history of your family. My parents were experts at sugar coating or simply not mentioning vital family information. Every time I would learn something unexpected, it was like a really badly planned surprise party. During this conversation, Bryce was sharing how he really isn’t interested in alcohol, that he didn’t see what all the hype was about, and that he was waiting until he was twenty-one to even try it. Music to a mother’s ears, but I am not naive.
Then our conversation detoured to “manscaping”. Why you ask? For the love of God, I have no idea. It wasn’t like he wanted to do that himself, but rather why men do it and do women do that? Jesus……
Yesterday, the boys were home due to winter break and went on my merry way to my work appointments. Normally, on Fridays I am home by 10:30, but yesterday, I had an additional photo shoot that delayed me. Around 11:30, I get a phone call from Bryce. His tone was annoyed as he inquired where I was. I told him and actually, thought I had filled them both in on my schedule, but apparently not, as my seventeen year old was a tad irritated. He indicated that he was worried about me. Awwwww……….I kind of felt like a child being berated by a parent, but it was cute, sweet, and made me feel special.
So out the door he went to take his ACT this morning and I feel proud. It is like we have been working hard to raise a decent human being and now we are preparing to launch him into the world, so he can share his gifts with everyone. While I will be a puddle of tears when the time approaches, I am relishing our time even when the topics are a little unusual.
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