Both My Babies in High School?

We got a letter in the mail last week from the high school. I think the Trucker was nervous about it. As soon as I finished reading the letter, he asked me what it was about. That made me nervous wondering what he had to be nervous about! Not that he has ever done any thing real wrong in school, his sense of humor just does not always match with the teachers!

This letter was still a bit of a shock, though. It was an invitation for 8th graders and their parents/guardians to come to the high school one night next week to learn about the scheduling, available courses and to ease the minds of the students and parents. I already have one in high school, so much of this stuff has already been covered before for our family. The shock was realizing that both of my babies will be in the high school. When did this all happen? I remember going to a kindergarten meeting like this with the Princess. I shed a few tears at that time, wondering how she got to be big enough to leave our house every day, get on a big bus and go spend the day with some other woman and a bunch of kids! Now to be doing the same thing with our youngest one going to high school? It makes me think of how little time we really have with our children to teach them the important things in life. And to make sure they know how much we love them. I have under four years left with the Trucker and he will be a legal adult. He could pack up and move to Australia and I could not stop him, nor would I want to. I just hope that by that time we have taught him all the things he will need to know, which I know we will not have done. So many of our lessons are learned once we leave the nest and figure things out on our own. When I start thinking along these lines, I realize the most important things that we need to hammer into the Trucker and the Princess. They need to have Jesus in their lives and they need to know that we love them. I think you can get through any thing as long as you have Jesus and love.

While it will be strange to have the Trucker going to high school next year, I am also excited for him. There will be more classes available to him in areas that he is interested in, like metals and small engines. I am still pushing for the woodworking stuff so he could make me another book shelf, but he did not mark that on his scheduling sheet. Rats! This will also be a time for me to pray even more for him, though, too. We all know the older we get, the more temptations we face. I will be praying for him to be wise in his decision making regarding the friends he chooses to spend time with and what he will be doing with his free time. Part of growing up is spending more time with other people and less time at home.

As much as I loved having him home every day pushing his Tonka trucks around, I knew that would not last forever. (I think we had more Tonka trucks in our house and yard than many stores had.) This will be another another time of growing for him. One which his Dad and I will be there cheering him on and praying for him lots!