There are so many things that have come up over the last 18ish years that we were, in hindsight, SO unprepared to deal with. So many things!
And yet... we got through all of them and can now look back fondly(?) at all the lessons learned. Parenthood is awesome, y'all!
I mean like no one really talked about how hard it is to cut baby fingernails or how to handle a toddler sunburn or what to do with that wiggly tooth that just won't come out. I was unprepared to deal with middle school. Period. Driving lessons, that first break-up, when your nearly grown child has ideas that aren't completely aligned with yours. Phew... there's just SO MUCH that we just figure out along the way.
We are in the middle of one of those phases right now. The college decision. The college application process. The inundation of information. It's a lot. A lot of mail - both the physical kind and the e kind. (The attached picture is stuff we've gathered THIS WEEK. If I had saved all of it along the way, I'd probably have 3 inches of postcards and flyers. One of my current major fears is simply missing something important in all this noise!
To be honest, I actually think we probably haven't really even gotten into the hardest part of this process. How do I help my boys decide what is best for THEM and what THEY want out of life. How much do I let them just fly with and how much help is appropriate? I've never done this before and we don't know the rules or the best practices or where the pitfalls are. It's kinda terrifying from this almost-September of the senior year vantage point.
Spencer has already started the application process. He has a top 3 schools. The order changes from time to time, but the top 3 is pretty consistent. So that's where we are focusing right now and trying not to keep the blinders on TOO much, but also not to become overwhelmed by options. (Like, sorry Muhlenberg College, as nice as it is that you want to talk to Spencer about wrestling, you are a private liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, please stop sending stuff.)
This is a big weekend for Spencer. On Saturday he's finally going to take the SAT for reals. (Cross all fingers that our high school stays open to administer the test!) He's taken the SAT before and the PSAT a couple of times (which is why I think we get so much mail, to be honest), so he's feeling pretty good, which makes me feel pretty good! We need these scores to provide to a couple of early decision options and kick off the process of trying to secure a nomination for the Naval Academy. The test is kind of a big deal for him - even though the VAST majority of applications this year do not required test scores thanks to Covid.
Then on Sunday Spence and I are hitting the road to head to Daytona so he can do his first college tour at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. We had plans for several tours over the summer, but... Covid... Luckily this campus is open to visitors. We are still waiting for his other top choices to open touring back up. I can't even imagine having to make this decision without getting to step foot on each option in person. Ahhhh 2020... you are such a weird year!
Stay tuned for more information and decisions along the way. And then guess what - we get to do it all over again with Quinn! Woot!
In other weekend news... Beckett has his first football game on Saturday! I am really looking forward to watching him play. Zane's team's schedule is a mess right now due to some youth sports ridiculousness, so his first game isn't until after Labor Day.
Enjoy these last few days of August and then celebrate putting another month of this crazy year in the rear view mirror!
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