6 reactions to my baby being a senior in high school

[stgulik]

6) Only one more year of her borrowing my sweaters, stretching them (or worse, washing them in hot water) and dropping them on the floor of her room.

5) What if she moves out by this time next year? What if she doesn't?

4) We're going to need a second mortgage to pay for all the senior year stuff. And that's before college.

3) Why do all the boys in her circle douse themselves in Axe body spray? Axe body spray should be a government-controlled substance, the kind you have to sign for at the pharmacy.

2) Her boyfriend will soon have his license and can drive her to school, so I won't have to. This is only slightly less disturbing than the prospect of her getting her own driver's license and borrowing my car and washing it in hot water and dropping it on the floor of her room. Oh wait. That doesn't happen.

And the Number One reaction to my baby being a senior in high school:

1) How did she get so old when I haven't changed a bit?

Comments

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

The answer is that there are no easy answers. My advice is to disappear into your room and write copious amounts of fanfiction.

And eat chocolate and loads of shrimp. Not necessarily together.

If said boyfriend is a careful driver, wah-hey! Second chauffeur.

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

This is all very good advice. I think the coming year will be much improved! And yes, he seems like the cautious type - I'm not actually concerned about his driving (or hers, for that matter).

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I was a late bloomer, driving-wise. My mother would get furious with me that I was dragging my feet about learning to drive. The only time my Aunt Maryanna ever gave mom good advice was about my driving. She told mom to relax and let me go at my own speed. "One day she'll wake up and be ready to drive."

Which is more or less exactly what happened.

Then I found out why mom was so anxious for me to get my license. I became the official gopher for bread, milk and ciggies for my parents. Oh, the days before tobacco products had a legal age for purchase.

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

LOL! Here's my driving story. My parents had inadvertently psyched me into believing I would be some kind of spacy, dangerous driver. Coupled with the fact they were nervous instructors, I decided learning to drive was simply not worth it. So I just bicycled everywhere until I was about 24. My boyfriend is actually the one who deserves credit in getting me license-ready.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

My mother did that for me regarding a small 50CC motorcycle my dad had purchased for me. She and him had row after row over it, and the few times I rode it she sucked all the joy out of me riding it by wringing her hands and telling me to be careful and that I shouldn't ride it and my dad never should have bought it for me and that it wasn't safe and she just knew I was going to hurt myself.

She literally killed any happiness of learning to ride it. I finally stopped, because I just couldn't take that much negativity surrounding it. My dad then got upset with me because I wouldn't ride it - it was a classic no-win situation. I've never tried to learn how to ride one since.

[delphipsmith]

Sterling advice :)

[darklotus1211.livejournal.com]

Ahhh... the dreaded body spray. I sympathise, I really do... I'm a poor parent of said 'fragrant' boys.

We have a spray over here that's very popular with teens called Lynx which at best smells like trough lollies (the cakes of deodorant they put in men's urinals) and at worst cat pee AND trough lollies! I only have one offender now as my 17yr old has learnt the wisdom of moderation and that there are better scents out there, so he's now using a pretty nice, if moderately priced, aftershave, but the 16yr old still slathers himself in the foul spray stuff and makes the whole house reek after his dousings. I feel like I should be wearing a hazmat suite afterwards! I've tried to encourage him to use roll on rather than sprays and nicer scents (breathing in all of those chemicals, especially the aluminium can't be good) but he just goes out and buys the toxic smog anyway.

I don't get the stealing of clothes so much, although both nick my tshirts at times as I tend to buy unisex or men's ones and as they're both mad keen skaters, I've been known to get them back in shreds. I don't have the makeup all over the bathroom like my mum had to put up with, but I do get the hair products, razors and stubble in the hand basin. Oh... and socks that could easily be classed as a bio-hazard. I actually have a nappy (diaper) bucket in the bathroom with soaker in it that I've stuck a biohazard sticker on for them to put their socks in - that's been quite successful, as they find it rather amusing.

I find it rather puzzling too that I suddenly have two man/boys on my hands and it seems like only a blink or two since the nappy bucket was actually used for nappies!

[delphipsmith]

What if she moves out by this time next year? What if she doesn't?

Hmm, yes: which would be worse lol?! What a warm, sweet, funny collection of "senior year woes" -- makes me think back to my own senior year (far too long ago to admit), and feel great sympathy for my mother :)