Successful Launch

Mixed feelings this morning as I look ahead and behind at the weeks. Behind lie two daughters successfully launched and excited for the future and ahead one daughter left to go who wants desperately to delay the future and be a little girl just a little longer.

Our weekend was a whirlwind of excitement as we loaded a trailer and dragged our living room furniture and a bed up to our middle daughter’s new apartment. Aly was giddy with excitement when we arrived and I could not help but be excited too. After a difficult first year at college I was thrilled to see my girl excited for the year ahead, ready to tackle the future and stake her claim at the life she has envisioned. I have prayed and continue to pray that her rough patch was her learning curve and that she is on her way to completing her college career with great success.

My oldest daughter just moved into her final place in her new home state of Connecticut. She has a roommate that she is very happy with and since their other lease was up just weeks after she arrived, they decided to find a little bigger place. She seems happy. She is not as connected as I would like her to be (Mom code for: She does not call) but I do see her posts on Facebook and she is usually smiling. It is not the way I would like to find out about my girl, but I will take that over knowing nothing.

So here I am…it is senior picture day for my youngest daughter that wants desperately to crawl back in the womb and have just a little longer to grow up. I have cancelled this appointment once before because my girl was dragging her feet and not invested in the process at all. Today we move forward. I have done everything I can to help her be comfortable, but at some point she will have to take the wheel. I am sure that now that she is the only child in the house, there are days when she loves it (lots of attention) and days when she HATES it (lots of attention). The other part of all this is, that we love her as much as the other two and we will not tolerate anything less than another successful launch, so she best get with the program.

I will work towards unmixing my feelings in the next jam packed few days. I cannot sit and relax on my couch because I sent the tired out couch and chair, up to college. I have no time to even shop for a replacement at this point so it will be a while before we can lounge around in my living room. It’s the price we are willing to pay for a small step towards independence. I hope to make a giant step towards independence for my youngest today when she finally moves past the senior picture trauma drama. All this is in the name of another successful launch on the horizon.

Aly's first apartment