Opinion : Halfway There

Well, we are halfway there.

3 of our kids are officially on their own now and we still have 3 at home.

Yesterday while driving the latest graduate off to college, I realized that everything was changing, and as a mom, I didn't like it!

I told myself, "I should be used to it." "We've done this before." "It's no big deal." "He's not going that far away."

The more I tried to talk myself into feeling better, the worse I felt.

It's a good feeling to know that you've raised a good kid, but then it's hard to see them leave...because they are a good kid.

The dynamics will change at our house, like they do every time someone leaves.

This time it will be more noticeable.This time it leaves just girls at home.

It seems the big brother that left was born to be the kid that stirred the pot. I could always tell when he walked in the door. The noise level increased instantly. He wasn't necessarily the one that was noisy, but he knew how to get everyone else riled up.

I remember when he was little, the two boys would share a room and there was a constant ruckus going on in there. Usually upon opening the door I'd see one kid grinning and the other with smoke rolling out his ears. The happy kids was the one that had just irritated his brother. It was always hard to figure out just how he did it.

With the girls it was easy. He just told them he would tease the cat, or suspend a doll above the heads of his sisters. That was easy to figure out.

On the way home it was silent in the car. The girls were already in mourning. "I'm gonna miss him, sigh" the youngest said, who is always quick to tell us what she's thinking. "I'm NOT going to miss him picking on me though!"

Just a couple days ago, I called following a nice heavy rain, a mile down the road, "Can you come change my tire?" "Sure" he said then came down the road, knelt in the mud and got me back on the road again. This last winter was the worst for my driving. I could not seem to stay on my driveway, and twice he had to pull the van out for me.

So today starts a new chapter. A quiet more boring day. And boy, I don't like it!