My son is officially a high school graduate. I am so proud of him. The many cussouts I had to give him throughout these high school years made my grey hair pop right on out after I just got it colored. The many emails to the teachers asking where is the grade that didn’t upload on time. The many times I threatened my son because he forgot to turn in his work which would have been an easy grade. The many times he was late to school (37 times just his senior year) and I had to take his car keys. The many times I was upset that he didn’t want to go to college or had no plans after school. Many times I thought I was a failure as a mom because I wondered how I have these work ethics and he is so lackluster. But……WE MADE IT! Now that high school is over I want to give you some lessons I learned as a mom of a senior as we both said goodbye to high school and hello life.
Taking ownership – I had to take ownership of not setting rules for my kids because I wanted to be the cool mom. We had no routine which made my son late to a lot of stuff. I set the tone in my home and kids do what they see not what we say. Had I had set routines and schedules at the beginning of high school my son would know this is what is expected. We were all over the place both of us so I learned that we have to set things up once they hit high school so that things are done in a timely matter.
Time – The speaker at my son’s graduation spoke about time. He said that time is a gift that we give to others and one that God gives to us. We can’t take time for granted we have to know who to give it to. The same people who are here at graduation may not make it to your next big event so take the time to love on the people that love you. Put the phones down and spend quality time with people. My son was late so much because he didn’t plan his time well. As an adult, you have to plan your time well or your time will slip away and that’s the one thing you can’t get back in life.
Get your money in order – Senior costs are a lot. I had to rob peter to pay paul (an old saying) to get through all the senior expenses. In my household, my son worked so that he can take some of those expenses off of me. This ain’t no I’m going to do everything nope I do the majority but not it all. He has to do something it’s his senior year too. I learned that we as moms take on a lot and we do not have to do it all. If your child wants to have a great senior year doing all the things then they have to help or they won’t get to do all the things.
Adapting to life things – The same friends you have in high school you may not have in your adulthood and that’s ok. Everyone is off to do their own thing finding their way. Sometimes when in high school you are just friends with people because they are there. You don’t have anything in common with them you don’t really know them like that they are just in class with you daily which is the most part of your day and you just become friends but you will see who is there and who isn’t as you get older and my son had to learn this the hard way. He even taught me that it’s ok to let things go and adapt to life changes. Something I as an adult have a hard time doing.
Finding your passions – My son has no idea what he wants to do. I think he is good at cooking, fashion, and maybe debating cause he likes to debate his point. I think he would make an excellent lawyer but it isn’t what I think. It’s what he wants he did tell me that he doesn’t want to work jobs like us old people. He wants a job he will like not one that he has to work. Sadly my mind is like well sometimes we gotta do things to make money and then work our passions on the side because you need money to survive but he will have to figure that out on his own. 75% of us are at jobs we don’t like but we do it because we have to not because want to.
As a parent to a senior, I will say I didn’t cry maybe because my son isn’t going off to college but I will say it’s hard letting them learn life on their own because they don’t want to listen. That’s the hardest part about being a parent is letting them make the mistakes because my son (I can only speak for mine) learns by going through it first. I am clocking out as a full-time parent and will now be called an advisor with part-time parenting abilities.
What life lessons did you learn in high school that still rings true for today? What life lessons have you learned now that you wish you knew back then?
The Comments
Anna Mae
Working from an early age taught me the value of money, but more important….independence! That, coupled with a mom that didn’t appear to rely on anyone, taught me to rely on myself above all cause…folks act funny, even the ones you think won’t!