Moms of Boys

Okay, so much for the New Year's Resolution of updating my blog regularly!!  Has it been that long??

To be honest, I've been overwhelmed lately with so many passwords and user names for my oldest son's college applications/College Board pages and my middle son's high school Blackboard and Span sites, that every time I would think, "I need to update my blog," I'd draw a a complete blank on my user name and passwords.  And yes, I knew they were listed in my desk in the bottom of a drawer, but the thought of digging through all those papers to get to it, made me sick to my stomach. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but sometimes you just get brain overload, and that's what was happening to me with all of my sons' stuff.

So now an update:  my oldest son, Billy, will be a freshman at North Carolina State University in Raleigh (and five miles from my house - yea!) majoring in marketing and accounting. Is on the wait list at Boston College, but NCSU is really his first choice. Besides, he wants to be near home so he can come home and ee our dog!! He won an Eagle Scout scholarship that includes a summer internship in D.C. and a semester at Georgetown (for those of you who have read my book, don't laugh at the irony in his winning a Scout scholarship when I tongue-in-cheek made fun of my husband's involvement in Scouting).  He also won first place in his catergory in the NC DECA high school state championship (a marketing group) and recently went to the nationals in LA, California with some others from his school. Lots of fun. He will be graduating on June 14th, and I'm frantically trying to put a graduation video together for him, as well as one of those cute little books with the class photos from all 13 years of school. Why did I make him wear a blue shirt every year for his photo??  It is tough to figure out what grade he was in each one.  I'm running behind -- had always planned on getting this done in plenty of time.  Ha!

  My middle son, David, turned 15 this week and is a freshman in high school. Played high school JV basketball and basebal this year, and we are just coming up for air after those schedules of after-school practices and games since November. He was reassigned to the high school my older son used to go to his freshman year (lots of reassignment in this area due to growth), and we are glad to be getting back there. So we have been going through that process with his school counselors. He is starting up summer baseball next week with his new high school team. He did very well with his old high school team, so it is all sort of bittersweet. 

The best part is that he will be done with Honors World History in another week!! And so will I.  This is  a really tough class because of all the info given out in one semester, but it's particularly hard with the format this teacher gives out information in. David has some processing problems, too, so I go through the info with him one-on-one and make him study guides that break the information down for him, and I'm exhausted with this class. Though I have to say, it's been a good refresher course for me. Just ask me about the Renaissance or the causes of WWI.

 
 Jason, my second grader, has been in private school since January when the public school he was attending seemed to be overwhelmed with handling the number of extra students than they had the previous year. He was getting very little homework, and I knew from experience with my older sons, that Jason was not getting what he needed.  The move was a tough one, but the private school has definitely been what Jason needed. Math facts are assessed frequently, etc. He likes it, and so do we overall, although it's not convenient location or starting hour-wise.  

The biggest transition for me was getting his uniform of solid collared shirts and khaki or navy dress pants ironed and ready for him each day.  For someone who despises ironing, this was cruel and unusual punishment. It had been so easy when he could just throw on a pair of jeans and t-shirt.  It was especially tough because Jason is big for his age and was at that awkward stage where regular pants were slightly too tight and husky pants were way too big.  So I had to buy husky ones and pay to have
them tailored (even though my father has owned a sewing machine shop since the 1950s, I can't sew a lick, disgracing the family name).  By the third week of school, I finally had five pairs of dress pants that fit him perfectly hanging in his closet ready to
go; I was so proud of myself. This was a ‘mom thing', wanting to make sure my son was prepared to follow the dress code and would look nice. That next week, I went to pick him up one afternoon and saw to my horror that Jason's pants had
a huge rip in the knee.  He got in the car and said, "Mom, I made a 105 on my spelling test."

      I said, "Holy crap, what did you do to your pants?"  Perhaps not the most supportive thing I could have said, but it was from the heart. Evidently, he tore it during recess. We got around to talking about the spelling test, but at the time, my own sense of
accomplishment - of providing the proper clothes for my son -- had taken quite a hit and I'd reacted instinctively.

 
I also turned 47 last week, which actually wasn't so bad, because for some reason I spent the whole last year thinking I'd already turned 47. So I kind of gained a year. My husband heard me say something one day several months ago about my being 47, and he corrected me.  Wow - he remembered something better than I did for once. 

 
I've been working on my second book about having my third child at an 'older age' while dealing with being the mom of all three of my boys. Also working on some fiction. 

 
But the main thing I've been busy with is dealing with my sons. I would say I will write again soon, but maybe I should just play it by ear and see what happens.

 
Take care,

 Sharon