Kicking the Baby Out of the Nest...(My Oldest Goes to College)

As a parent you spend eighteen years training a child, so that one day, they will be able to become independent thinkers.  Today was a hard day for me.  After eighteen years, I had to release my first independent thinker into this world.  I helped my son move into college.  Yes, I cried last night.  Not pretty tears either, but wet, sloppy, snotty tears. When we look at nature, we see parents releasing their young into independence at early ages.  The wood duck builds its nest fifty feet in a tree.  When the parents feel the baby is old enough, the mom sits on the ground calling to its baby to jump from its nest.  (Our children should NEVER complain again when we ask them to take out the trash.  It's not jumping from a fifty foot high tree!)  A kangaroo will take care of its "joey" until its too big to fit in its pouch, then its adios.  A deer feeds its fawn until its old enough for solid food and then teaches it where to find food and how to live.  After that, the deer takes care of itself.  Humans nurture their children.  They teach them everything they need to survive.  Then they do it for them because the child may not get the gist of it.  You know that at least once you have done a job for your child because it was quicker and easier than having them do it and then clean up after they did it.  (Washing dishes- where there is more water on the floor than the sink and the dishes still have enough soap on them to give the entire family diarrhea for a week if you actually used them.)  Parents today tend to over-nurture.  We hover.  We enroll our children in every class possible to make them well-rounded and prepared for the future, but then we never release them into the future.  It's hard to stand by and watch your children learn from their mistakes.  This is why we are seeing children struggling to truly leave the nest.  So today, I joined nature and released my young.  He knows where to find food (the cafeteria or possibly his room-mates closet).  He knows how to clean himself  (with the $10 in quarters and a pack of Tide Pods).  Just in case he didn't pick up my wisdom over the years, I decided to leave him with some final words.  They are final because he rarely remembers to call me!  As I told him six things to remember with weepy eyes, we hugged.  I am very proud of my son.  So here are my words of wisdom to a new student going off to college...or to anyone.

1. Put God first.  If He is first, everything else will fall into place better.
2. Don't get attached to stuff...relationships are more important.
3. Forgive freely.  People are too important to hold a grudge against.
4. Have confidence in yourself.  If you believe in yourself, others will believe in you.
5. Laugh at yourself.  You are human and will make mistakes.  Learn to take a joke and don't beat yourself up when you aren't perfect.
6. Strive for excellence.  Do your best.  Don't try to compete against others.  Just be the best you that you can be.  That is when you will find your excellence.

So for all of you high-heeled warriors releasing your young...stay strong!