College...

School is starting far sooner than anyone wants, especially on a good day. A good day is when everyone mostly gets along, you get at least 5 minutes alone, nobody complains about the plans for the day and at least one of the kids offers to help out. On a not so good day (which you get the drift on what that looks like), school could start right then and there.

A friend of mine at the gym was talking about her daughter leaving for college next week. I said, "Oh are you so sad?" "No, I'm just ready for it to happen already. There have been so many goodbyes to other friends, it's just time. She needs to go." Oh. I was misty-eyed for her at the loss of her first born to a far away school, her - not so much.

Tomorrow my nephew leaves for college. Again, as my heart beats a little faster, "Oh Steve, are you so sad?" Steve is my big brother. "No, I'm just ready for it to happen. The basement is full of so much stuff, it just needs to go. I'll be sad when I drive away though." Finally, a softy in the bunch. This is my brother, major softy, whose son is only going to be 15 miles away. I knew he'd shed a tear.

AJ is my oldest nephew. He was 5 months old when I met him, at my wedding. I could have eaten him right there, those cheeks! Those sunglasses! This one has kept us in stitches over the years with one single thing. He said "Big jeep bwak!" after seeing a big black jeep. We were all fools for him, still are!

In 5 years my 8th grader will graduate and go to college. I could bawl thinking about it, I'm not even kidding. In 7 years my baby girl will go... And I won't bother to do the math for when my baby will go, I can't even handle it. For now I'll just relish in the fact that my oldest daughter is obsessing over color coding everything for 8th grade - her folders, binders, locker set-up. I'll admire the joy in my baby girl's face over having her very own locker and her very own cello. And when my baby goes to school tomorrow to drop off his school supplies and meet his teacher for the first time, I'll fight the tears that are building as I think about it. I love these little people and I can't even think about college. So I won't!! I won't!!

I better go kiss their sleeping little faces. Just think, in 5 years I'll have one less little cheek to kiss. Bye, time is tickin'!