I spent last Monday evening back in high school. It was surreal. Truly, it doesn’t seem that long ago. Maybe it’s because I wake up most mornings with my high school sweetheart….”most” only because he travels a lot for work….but it really doesn’t seem that far away. Except this time I was the PARENT!
It doesn’t seem possible that my big girl will start high school next year and my baby will start middle school. In the land of planning and organization, we start the scheduling conferences in February, so I was at the high school parent orientation on Monday evening. We had too many other things going on Monday for both of us to go, so I was the designated parent representative as school schedules are within my area of responsibility. Luckily, in my current state of confusion and brain fog, I immediately latched onto one of my best friends when I arrived at the school and followed her around all night. It is a really big school and they kept using terms like pre-AP World Civilization and Pre-Calculus Trigonometry! The whole thing was overwhelming 🙂
Actually, I am just playing. It was really very exciting and bittersweet and wonderful and sad and a huge reminder of how extremely quickly my life is going. The dear, dear friend with whom I spent the evening is someone whose rising freshman I have known since he was 3 years old. When the two kids were 3, my little girl would tell him that they were going to get married when they grew up. To this he would dutifully reply, as all obedient 3 year old boy friends of bossy 3 year old girl friends do, “ok, but we are going to live at my mom’s house.” 11 years later, they are still dear friends. 
Because we have both moved into different houses, they haven’t gone to school together since 1st grade, but still see each other through family get togethers and church/ youth group functions. We are thrilled to have them back together in high school. His mom is one of my best friends and we raised these kids together. If my girls have turned out at all well, she deserves a good deal of the credit. But tell me, please? Where did 11 years go? I can see them right now at 3, 4 , 5, 6 years old, playing Barbies (one of them dressing them up and one of them pretending Barbie was an airplane bomber) climbing trees and playing with worms.
I know my daughter is ready for high school. Funny, that I have no concerns about at all. She is clear about what classes she wants to take. She is confident and excited about next year already. I guess the part that makes me feel sort of panic-stricken is the way the entrance into this part of our journey with her….her high school years…symbolizes the beginning of the end of our active involvement in her life. All through Monday night, the focus was on preparation for college. College means out on her own….moving out of our house and into the world. The countdown to her independence, just as it should be. I guess I better teach her how to do her own laundry.
