By this time next year, I will have two children in college and I will be able to say that I have survived the biggest challenge of parenthood.
You think that I'm going to define that as driving my kids to a far away place, hauling their stuff into a dorm and heading home with an empty van. That it's living with their quiet bedrooms, wondering if they're safe each night and looking back on the 18 years that flew by in about 5 minutes.
And I'm not going to lie, all of that is tough emotionally.
When you give birth, you understand that your job description is to raise them to adulthood. You think you are up for it. Most of the time.
When they cry all night, throw tantrums in the grocery store, hide the science test they failed or act like you're bothering them as teenagers, you may question whether you are up to the task.
You are. Most of the time.
But what I didn't realize until I got to my second child's senior year is what an uphill battle it is to guide them through the process of deciding what they will do next.
Kids change dramatically from the start of their senior year until the end. They are on the verge of adulthood, but dart back into childhood as it suits them.
One minute they are informing you that they've got "it"— which could mean everything from choosing a college to passing the exams they didn't prepare for — and the next they are tagging along with you to the grocery store putting cookies in your cart.
You can get whiplash trying to keep up.
My daughter who is a senior started out the school year applying to large state universities far from home and fantasizing about studying abroad. Six months later, she's looking at smaller schools closer to home and fantasizing about studying abroad. Six months from now, she will be moving into a dormitory somewhere. And I couldn't begin to guess where it will be.
When I was her age, I applied to three schools, took standardized tests once and made my decision easily. Nothing is that simple anymore.
Our children are inundated with options, filled to overflowing with information, deafened by the noise that is their social media world. And, with all of that going on, they are making decisions that will define their futures.
They get through it. So do we. Most of the time.
Managing Editor Wendy Victora can be reached at 315-4478 or wvictora@nwdfdailynews.com.