High School Graduation Time

As most of you know , and some may not, I have a son who is graduating High School this weekend.   It is hard to believe that my baby, my last child is actually getting ready to leave his “elementary” school years behind!!   I also have 2 granddaughters that live with me, ages 10 and 11 so while my “baby” is graduating High School, I still currently have 2 young ones in the home in their early years of “elementary” school.  

I have found myself looking back at all the years of my son’s school career and his growing up years, and as most parents in my position due, wondering  where did the time go?   It seems like it was just yesterday that he was in Middle School and was a skinny awkward kid, getting ready to start High School. I find myself reflecting on the day he started his 1st real job, the day he got his drivers license, bought his own car (with money HE saved up and purchased on his own)   There are just so many things that as a mom, you sit and reflect back on during these last couple weeks before they graduate.   

 Normally this would be the season in life that my husband and I would be going, yay….we are getting ready to be “empty nesters”.  With that realization, there are a ton of feelings that come up.  Yet as I mentioned, we are helping raise our 2 granddaughters, so life is a little different in our household.   I am  happy to say that in the past 10 months or so , their mom has also been living with us and is doing her best to rebuild that relationship with her girls and learning  how to become a full time mom again.   It is an adjustment for her, as she is also dealing with mental health issues, but she is doing a great job with it.   I know that it will be a long while before the granddaughters are able to move out with mom full time, so that part of life is not going to change anytime soon.

Our son has decided he is going to live at home for at least for the near future, while he begins his college life and figures out his place in the world.   There are so many changes headed his way, the responsibilities of a college student, the difference between High School And College life, etc.  Then we have other things such as , how does he balance work, school, and his other extra curricular activities.   Our son has a good solid head on his shoulders, and I pray that he stays at home long enough to figure out how college life is going to be , before he moves out on his own.  I can tell though, he is starting to get that “itch” that all 18 year olds do, and wants to move out and get his own place.   He knows the smart thing to do is stay home and not have to worry about things like:   Paying rent, utilities, food, etc, in addition to his expenses that he is already paying, car insurance, cell phone bills, gas, and the extra dollars that all young kids need to go “hangout” with friends.   I believe that only time will tell how that one is going to work out.  I am certain there will be another post in the next several months with updates on that one.   For now, I am just trusting in the fact that we have raised a smart son, who has mapped out his future and will make the right choices.   

Right now, for this week, we are just trying to get through all the activities that come right before graduation.    I am in the process of trying to plan a small graduation party, and have found it is so much different with a boy, than it was with my daughters.   First of all, I was in a major car wreck several weeks ago, and I am not able to hardly move right now.   So the majority of my  planning consists of making lists, and relying on my oldest daughters and my husband to go “run the errands” to get what is needed for the party.   I also have the best friend in the world who will go to the party location and do the setup for me, so physically I can basically just be a supervisor in the setup of this party.    I am blessed to have all these people in my life, or I am afraid to say, my son wouldn’t be getting much other than a dinner out after graduation.   Since I believe he has worked hard through his High School career and is graduating with honors and distinction and a high GPA, he DESERVES to have a party to recognize all his hard work.   Thankfully, with a boys graduation party, they don’t really care about all the little “details” , that my daughter did and of course I do.  I don’t know about anybody else, but my girl is a little OCD when it comes to things like that and my son is like, as long as we have food, and some music , my friends, he is good to go!     

I have to admit I am a mess thinking about the fact that my last baby is  graduating, but I am thankful that all my kids have graduated High School and that I managed to get them through their teenage years without any major catastrophes.   LOL  

So that is my current update on life in the Brandon household.  There is soooo much more going on, but I thought I would give a small  update on how things are at this all so exciting Graduation time.   I have an exciting post I will be writing soon about how my son just got back from a Cheer Competition and his team is now NINTH in the WORLD in Cheer leading Competitions!!   I am excited to write that post and update y’all on how the amazing , wonderful world of Competition Cheer can be, especially from the view of a parent with a son, and not a daughter.  (which of course is what we normally think of when we talk about Cheer leading)  As I said, more to come on that later.

I would love to hear from any of my followers about your own children.   Are you like me and have one graduating this year?   How are you handling it?   Or maybe yours are still little and you are having other struggles with school and your babies growing up too fast!  Either way, I always love to hear your comments, so be sure to let me know below in the comment section what is going on with you!!!