Oh dear....here we go....
Snow day yesterday - no school - and an extra day of Christmas vacation. Woo hoo! The Athlete came over in the early afternoon to watch as we baked cookies and to exchange gifts with the Cheerleader. She bought him a tie with his favorite NFL team's logo (for school uniform use) and made him an ornament to commemorate the excellent state semi-final football season of 2008. He gave her perfumed lotion to go along with her daily scent...wait for it...."Princess." Both were pleased, and I believe there may even have been a quick mistletoe incident while I was in the kitchen between cookie batches, and they were running interference for me with the baby.
They sat on the couch talking and laughing for several hours while I baked, covering topics ranging from sports to doll collecting, and she schooled him in the finer techniques of driving a cat crazy with a laser pointer and a pinch or two of catnip. All in all, they had a great afternoon together.
Then....disaster struck. He left later on in the evening and then called her immediately after he got home to let her know he'd just gotten his first college acceptance letter. She was thrilled and congratulated him...and then I watched the realization hit her.
Now it's getting too "real" - the age issue is back to the forefront.
She sat down slowly, became quiet and rather pale, and they talked for an hour, during which time she assured him that he was free to date other girls his own age whether now or when he leaves for college, she would not expect him to wait or remain tied to our little north of nowhere town simply because of her. He would hear none of it, assuring her that was a bridge they could cross later, and they should just enjoy the present together and sort the rest when the time comes.
Seems that now she's finally starting to feel attached, the thought of detaching is too much to bear. And she has a valid point.
They will both have plenty of time to ponder these issues - he is leaving to spend a week with the family in warmer climes, while we have a houseful of nieces and nephews coming in to ski by day and hit the local wineries by night. I will be purchasing extra chocolates and pocket kleenex packs for the Royal stocking today. I think we're gonna need ample supplies of both.
So...will there be a Happy New Year for our young crush-birds? Or will the Helo Mom be hanging it up for awhile?
Stay tuned, my friends....
Random thoughts on a Saturday morning
3 weeks ago
5 comments:
Kit,
This is turning into quite the romance novel and your dispatches are priceless! The Athlete sounds adorable - but the Beloved should still keep the K-bar sharpened and honed.
How far could college be? Also, your daughter sounds lovely - no younger boys have come 'round, "just to talk?"
Ah the trauma!
You are a brave woman Kit-I haven't dared post a single thing about the romance drama in this house. My oldest reads my blog-I'd be caught and lynched!
The age difference thing is horrible at that age-and so meaningless later. I just hope you wont be needing to hand out too many kleenex!
Btw-saw further down you have a tree on a table to avoid The Boy. We have a tree in a cage (play pen) to avoid The Girl.
Ahh Digi...I am hoping the younger ones start figuring it out, and so does she. There's just something about her that the older ones seem to see and like. I was congratulating one of other senior football hero-turned-basketball stars after the last game (my daughter made his football posters, cookies for him on game days, etc.) and he lit up when he realized I was "her" mom...as did a few of his sweaty compatriots. "Oh, your daughter is so amazing, she's so nice and she's SO pretty, too..." (this earned a few slightly-too-emphatic nods from the friends, and then one punched him and said "Dude, that's her MOM you're talkin' to!")
Oh brother. And this is the girl who truly believes she's "nothing special." Lord have mercy.
Shell...the tree...LOL!!! He's terrible. He's just able to reach a few of the dangly ones and will occasionally stroll up to me bearing "gifts" with sharp metal hooks. BOYS! And fortunately, since I don't post their actual names and the kids only have limited and filtered 'net access, so far, so good! She knows of the blog, loves and helped design her Meez character, and she knows that we all discuss children on occasion, but she doesn't read it.
I've actually passed along some of the comments and suggestions to her along the way, too, so all you fellow current and future Helo Parents (and Padres) out there, feel free to contribute!
*sigh* Young Love..second only to volcanic eruptions as an example of natures cruelty!
I though it would be OK when i got mine safely married---ooops, I forgot the modern world.
Oh, dear. Oh dear, dear, dear.
I wonder if the school you teach at is strong in his major?
I remember...when I first met Canuck, he was finishing a belated undergrad in Windsor, so just across the river from my own Detroit. His first grad school acceptance letter was for the University of ALBERTA. ACK!!!
Second one was for Queens - Kingston is much closer - at least it's in Ontario - but still, too far for a weekend jaunt. And mind you, I didn't have a car at the time (long story).
FINALLY, after much finagling and bureaucratic hold-ups, he got accepted to U. of Western Ontario in London. Not around the corner by any stretch, and not easy by a long shot, but 2.5 hours each way was a very manageable long-distance relationship.
Of course, we were both in our late 20s at this point. Rather different than teens.
I am eager to hear how things unfold...I am still holding out hope for a situation like Canuck's parents, who started dating at around the age points Princess and Athlete are at and got married right after she graduated college. (And the most amazing part is that they were married for 34 years and still both liked and loved each other when he passed away a few years ago.)
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