Life of Wry

T’was a bit of a weird juxtaposition.. I was sitting at Mishka’s in a window seat, drinking coffee, trying to catch up on a whole bunch of back blogs, but instead was just stuck in a very reflective space wondering how Peter was handling his first full week of classes, knowing it was a big day class-wise (four lectures and maybe a breakout discussion or two). I was in a full-on he’s in college now moment, when I heard the sound of a marching band–not unusual in this town–and looked out the window to see the DHS Homecoming parade slowly, but boisterously, rolling by:

That would be the football team, or part of it. I see a baseball teammate hanging off the back of the float–John L–but don’t recognize too many others (well, actually, none!).

Suddenly high school seemed so … yesterday.  Or, more accurately, yesteryear. 

What’s more, Peter wasn’t coming home, as the celebration billed.

I was feeling both weirded out and happy.

Here’s what I am not missing: feeling guilty about not reading the Daily Bulletin and the PTA notices (which I’m still getting in my email, but which I now delete with just a tad too much gusto); having to track or worry about bell schedules, assembly days, testing schedules; obsessing about SchoolLoop; having to worry about things I ought to be volunteering for; thinking about whether all the homework’s getting done; keeping lunch supplies ample; contributing to teacher recognition potlucks; tracking game schedules; volunteering for all the car pools…

I loved it all (minus the guilt of not being a perfect and dutiful parent of a school aged kid) and, yet, now it’s all completely off my list of concerns. Which actually feels unimaginably liberating. Being a parent of a college aged kid has its own issues and demands, but it’s different.

I think maybe I’ve written about this before, but it sure hit home as I watched that parade moving by in slow motion.