Growing Up

Computer dude phoned home to wish his dad Happy Birthday today.  He has even agreed to come home for the weekend so we can celebrate as a family (either that or he wants some real food).

Back at the ranch Engineering guy seems to have taken his foot off the gas.  I totally understand this but his scholarship level depends on his end of June marks.  Four more weeks and high school will be all over for him.  Have I mentioned how much I'll miss him?

Mother's Day

So far Computer dude has lived up to his Mother's Day gift to me by calling me every week.  Yipeee!!  He's enjoying his job and I think the fact that he doesn't have to worry about studying and can socialize more.

Engineering guy continues to impatiently wait for the end of the semester.  He refuses to count down because it makes the time go too slowly.  I refuse to countdown because it depresses me.  I'm not looking forward to having just two of us tooling around the house.  Hmmm have I said that before?  I might be starting to go through a midlife crisis.  Today I was researching opportunities to teach English as a second language overseas.  That's all well and good except for the fact that I am an accountant!

The difference between computer dude and engineering guy

Well there are many but this is one that will affect me most this summer.  

When computer dude moved out last September he needed a lot of "things" as he was going to be sharing a townhouse with three other guys.  Since he is allergic to shopping he was more than happy to let me collect all the "stuff" he needed.

Engineering guy will be living in a traditional dorm so he doesn't need as much "stuff".  Apparently I don't get to be as involved either.  I just bought a new comforter for our bed.  His response was "oh mom - that is so hick".  Umm  - I guess the John Deere or Toronto Make Believes comforters I was choosing between for his bed won't cut it?

Engineering Guy

Eighteen months after his brother engineering guy came along kicking and screaming.  After a very volatile toddlerhood he turned into a pretty mellow fellow.  From an early age he was determined that his older brother would not beat him in any area and I think that is where his competitive nature came from (well that and his dad).  Now nearly eighteen years later I am getting ready to send him off into the big bad world to study engineering.  He could have gone to the same school as his brother which is arguably the best engineering school in the country but he chose to go to a different school five hours away.  It's funny how perspective changes because for the last two years he was determined to go to the west coast (which is half a country away) so now five hours seems like nothing.  I had a countdown timer on my desktop to help prepare myself for the empty nest but I found it too depressing.  It's time for him to go.  Even though he is only seventeen he is ready.  He has chosen what I believe is the best learning environment for him.  I'm proud of how hard he has worked to make sure he had choices.  I'm just a bit sad that they both have grown up so fast.

We stopped in today to drop some things off for computer dude.  I was happy to see with my own eyes that he had survived the week.  When hubby and I got home (after being away for the weekend there was a beautiful orchid on the kitchen table and a Mother's Day card compliments of the baby (Hereafter to be known as engineering guy).

So here's the thing

It just occurred to me that in 115 days I will be driving my baby five hours away, kicking him to the curb, and expecting him to fend for himself in Universitytown.  The fact that my "baby" is a six foot,  160 pound athlete and  honour roll student whom we affectionately call "dumb blond" seems totally irrelevant as any mom would tell you.  I'll try to start at the beginning.

Nineteen years ago (and two weeks late I might add) I gave birth to a bouncing baby boy.  Eighteen months later I gave birth to another and realized I hadn't known the meaning of the word bouncing before - and for the next couple of years I wouldn't know the meaning of the word sleep.  Fast forward a few years - daycare, school, hockey, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, band, graduation!

At the beginning of September 2007 we dropped our first-born "Computer Dude" off at his university of his choice to study - you guessed it - computer science.  I have to explain about Computer Dude.  He had been ready to strike out on his own since he was about nine months old.  He tolerated us for the next 17 years or so.  The fact that he chose a university an hour from home made the transition easier for his dad and I.  He could easily come home for weekends............or not as it turned out.  He promised to phone home weekly (he lied).  He survived his first year and so did we.  He came home for a brief stint before starting his summer job in  *drum roll* a computer company.  He is living with two strangers (It's possible they are axe murderers) in the basement of a house (I wonder if there is a smoke alarm - I told him to check) with no mother to tell him to clean his room AND he is making money.  I suspect you can't get much closer to heaven than that when you are nineteen.  We are still negotiating over the how often to call home part (he's pretty set on never and I'm equally set on weekly) but he is close enough geographically that we can go and take him out for a meal - and he has yet to refuse a free meal.