a million little things

Ahhh...one month from today. My boy will be leaving the nest and moving into his dorm room at my alma mater. It is truly a time of celebrating, rejoicing that he made it through high school and is now going on to college, to the place where I spent 4 of the most wonderful years of my life. I know there are a lot of parents who would give anything to have their adult children move out of the house! Me? Not so much. I mean, he doesn't even turn 18 until next weekend, still a baby in my book! :)

The thing is that I am going to miss having our little foursome (well, 5 including the dog!) under one roof. Once he moves out, things will never really be the same. There are so many little things I am going to miss...

Here are a few of them..

• Making chamomille tea for my boy at night (we started this tradition a couple years ago so, I did buy him an electric kettle and stocked up on tea in the hopes he will continue...)
• Saying good night to him (most) every night
• Friday night football games
• The dog barking when he comes home after hours, alerting us that he is home
• Road trips where we rock out to our fave country tunes and talk about stuff (some of my favorite memories are just he and I in the car)
• Making him breakfast
• Sitting down to dinner as a family, talking about our day
• Asking him about his day, working as a caddy (he usually has some funny story from his day on the golf course)
• Telling him to put on sunscreen as he heads out the door
• All of his funny sayings that we fondly refer to around here as "AJisms!"

Mostly, I am just going to miss having my boy around. He brings so much to the table. He lights up a room when he walks into it. He is always saying, "Hi Mama" or "G'nite Mama" or "Love you Mama" and I am going to miss that.

I once heard someone say, "you can't be jealous of someone you love" which is so true! I am not really jealous, just happy and excited for him as he begins this new adventure but, if I'm being honest, I gotta say, I just wish I could go along with him and hold his hand a little longer! I mean, he can't possibly make tea all by himself, can he?

"It is the sweet simple things of life

which are the real ones after all..."

Laura Ingalls Wilder