College bound

Something big happened today.  My college bound son and I attended the student orientation at his school.  Just him and me.  Mom and the boy….well, let’s say “man” at this stage of his life.

It’s funny.  When I look at Son #1, I still see the little baby we brought home from the hospital.  His tiny fists balled up in pink fury, like he was taking on the world.  His little red face, surrounded by a halo of feathery silken blond hair, the tiny curls at his temples barely noticeable.  And his perfectly round head…he was in such a hurry to enter the world that his skull didn’t even have a chance to get that egg shape caused by a prolonged, constricted trip down the birth canal.

Now he’s 18, considered an adult by everyone except bartenders.  He still looks young, with this bit of peach fuzz on his chin…a result of not shaving for a week or two.  He will probably end up as one of those timelessly boyish men like Brad Pitt or the eternal teenager, Dick Clark.  I told him that he’ll get carded until he’s 40.  And he is now my college bound man.

We had a great day together.  We talked on the drive down.  We hung out together at the breakout sessions, we had lunch, we shared the information from the individual student and individual parent sessions, and we talked on the car ride back.  He groaned when he saw that his schedule included a 4 credit calculus class.  And then groaned some more when he noticed that his major requires him to take Calculus II and Calculus III.  Son #1 is amazingly bright and I always knew he would be college bound, calculus be damned.  I know he’ll do just fine.

Something that was missing during our day was the presence of the two important men in his life.  Husband #1 is his father but we rarely interact with each other.  He signed full custody over to me in our divorce.  He loves Son #1 but is afraid of me.  Husband #2 has been a part of Son #1’s life since he was 7 years old.  Husband #2 missed out on the day as well.  He’s busy living his life 4 states away.  How sad that these men weren’t there to experience the wonder and excitement that Son #1 showed when telling me that he’s going to do the integrated B.S. and M.S. program in his field….in five years.

So I’ll be greedy and cherish my one-on-one time with Son #1.  I’ll enjoy this time of us living in the same home before he heads out into the world to forge his own path.  Maybe he’ll even grow to appreciate calculus.