To the Graduating Class of 2021

     What an exciting and daunting time in your life. No more high school but now you are venturing into adulthood and going off to college or joining the workforce. Though it is an exciting time for you, also know that this is a difficult time for your parents/guardians. We are not okay! Our emotions are probably just as all over the place as yours are! We are excited for you, but also want to stop time and to stop you from growing up and moving out.

We have had the last 18 years to help you navigate through life’s challenges. We have been there when you have been sad and just needed a hug, we were a sounding board when you had questions about school or friends or life. We were just a step away and now we are facing the challenge of you being out of our reach and possibly thousands of miles away. Though we have done a rather good job of preparing you for the “real” world there are still so many life lessons to learn, and we worry that we haven’t taught you the most important ones!

As much as you may roll your eyes at us when we say we understand, we really do. Maybe not quite on the same level because we were fortunate to NOT have social media back in the day, but we understand what you are going through. We had those tough decisions to make, we dealt with friends that quit talking to us, we dealt with heartbreak and difficult jobs or classes. So even though you do need to learn from your own experience, just know that we do have some knowledge and just take what advice we may give you and file it away for future use.

No matter if you are the first, second, or last child in your family to graduate, your parents are all still dealing with crazy emotions. We are dealing with what new our “normal” will be. We are trying to determine how we can care for you from afar, because just an FYI, we never stop wanting to protect you and watch over you.

So, enjoy this exciting time, but give us parents a break. Let us take one more picture of you in your cap and gown, let us invite friends and family over to celebrate you and your accomplishments, let us pull out pictures from kindergarten all the way to senior year and share with everyone – more than likely via a photo collage or slideshow (with inspiration music of course!)

Not only have you accomplished so much in the last 13 years of school, but you have handled the last year and a half dealing with the unknown of remote learning and a pandemic! You are rock stars! Congratulations Class of 2021!

I'm Back!!!!!!!!!!

 Did you miss me?? I know you did!

You have missed my witty, yet insightful, posts. Your life has not been complete without my little ray of humor. I know, I know and I am so sorry! But I am back and better than ever! 

Actually I have been dealing with COVID and quarantine just like everyone else. It's not easy. Most days I am like "I got this! I've been social distancing for YEARS!" But then I have to second guess everything I do. Should I have friends over? If I do, which friends, because I can have no more than 5! I have items I need but should I just order them online or go to the store? And if I go to the store, will I have to wait in line before they will allow me in, and do I want to bother with that? 

This past year has been crazy. People are crazy. I'd like to chalk that up to Covid and being quarantined and just dealing with this crazy pandemic that we aren't used to, but I am thinking people were always crazy and us being stuck at home with excessive time on the internet, has made people crazier. 

Let's talk opinions. Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. Do I want to see yours? Probably not. Do I want to hear all about it? Again, not really. Do you have one? Yes, and let's just leave it at that! Now if you want to have a civilized conversation, supported by facts and stats, about your asshole, we can do that, but again...there are a lot of other things I'd rather talk about! 

Okay...social media. It is really the root of all evil. No seriously....I have a love-hate relationship with it. I love that I can be connected with friends and family that may not live close. I love catching up with old friends from high school, or getting to know people better through their posts and pictures. But on the flip side....it gives everyone a platform to speak their thoughts and to hide behind the computer screen while doing it. It gives them the courage to say things they may not normally say to someone face to face. The best part...you can go back and delete what you said, or not allow other people to comment. How many times do we wish we could do that in real life? 

I am all for having in depth conversations on worldly events and such, but what I am not for is bashing others or ridiculing them because they have different opinions than mine. I mean...I have some pretty good thoughts and opinions so I don't quite understand why you may disagree with me, but if you do that is okay. I am disappointed in the hateful words I have seen people post, or the people that will voice their opinion, but then get after me when I may voice mine. 

As young children we learn early on that we should treat others the way we'd want to be treated, and that we are all different and that is okay. Yet somewhere along the way we forget this. So maybe we should take a queue from the kiddos of the world, I mean they are going to be running our country some day right? :) Be kind to your neighbors, realize we are all different and have different thoughts and beliefs, and know that what you see on the surface may not fully show what someone is actually going through.