It’s been a bit of a whirlwind around here lately. I am still trying to sort through schedules and lists – and my feelings.
Back-to-school time has always been a pretty exciting time for us. As a two-working-parent family, we haven’t ever really done the “lazy days of summer” thing. We don’t have extended time off and have always tried to keep the boys busy and active. There are trips and camps and “things” every week. So the transition to school-year-level chaos is usually pretty easy. In some ways – especially since we moved to full-time work-from-home, sending kids off on to the school bus is a little bit of a relief!
And yet… it’s impossible not to think about how time is passing when we tackle these milestone events.
Beckett is in the 5th grade this year. He’s moved to a brand new (and gorgeous) elementary school. He’s the oldest – and probably in the top 2% of biggest – in the building. He’s not with Zane and is tackling new people, new classrooms, and new opportunities. He came home the other day asking to apply to work on the school news crew. I hope he gets picked because he’s the only one of my kids to want to do something like that and I think it’s awesome! I think I mentioned before that his football practice schedule is a little rough for us – as we have double-duty on Tuesday night with a conflict every week with Zane’s football games. The flip side of his T R F football schedule is that it allows for him to fit in wrestling practice on Monday and Wednesday. He’s going to have a great year!
Zane is in the 7th grade – which is the middle grade of middle school. I’m not going to lie… this is not my favorite stage of raising humans. He’s dealing with a full slate of honors/advanced classes along with football – and a social life that would rival A-list celebs. He’s outgoing and funny and, if I don’t strangle him, poised to KILL 7th grade. It’s pretty fun to get to experience all of the “stuff” again. I’ve told many people, but it’s true… middle school football was my favorite football – and collectively we have something like 24 seasons of football to pick from. As a middle school parent, there is truly NO substitute for perspective!
Spencer’s last day of his summer internship is today. He’s learned a lot and has some big plans for what he wants to do next summer. He’s been working for a construction company and it’s not swayed him from wanting to continue to pursue a career in the construction industry. If all of my boys were lucky enough to land a summer job after their freshman year in college that helped them solidify their plans for the future, I would be ecstatic! It’s so helpful to get immersed into the work and figure out what roles are most interesting. Spencer wants to get into the grading side of construction next summer.
And Quinn… goodness gracious! It’s taken me a week to wrap my head around the fact that he’s not here anymore. I’m not sad. I promise you that! Actually, the fact that I’m not sad makes me feel slightly guilty… like maybe I should be more wistful or something. But the thing is that he is happy. He was so excited to get down there and because he’s staying with people he knows in a ridiculously nice apartment, he’s super comfortable. I almost hate to say it, but it was easy to leave him in Statesboro.
Of course I miss him – he was the MOST consistent with popping into my office when he got home to say hi and get a hug and 100% of the time always came up to give me a goodbye hug before he left. I miss that. It’s also weird that I don’t get to see Jess either! They were here so much that it’s like we lost 2 kids when he went to school.
Quinn is currently enrolled as an Exercise Science major on his way to applying to nursing school. He’s taking 4 classes and a lab and has settled in with his friends from home, while already meeting some new folks. He’s going to thrive down there – and I can’t wait to watch it!
If you would like to send Quinn a card – his address is : Quinn Bovenizer, PO Box 8797, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460
Here’s a selfie of Quinn that I made him take on his first day of class yesterday 😊
