Bigger Everything

My Everything got bigger recently when I decided to finish my book, find a job, AND finish my degree at night in the fall.

I admire my kids for their respectful patience when I tell them things that are not particularly interesting to them. But l love my kids +++ for the way they reacted when I told them I was going back to school. There was a genuine pause while they recovered from the surprise, then:

Courtney: “Wow. Wow. That is awesome. Really, I am so proud of you…”

Drew: “I just stopped walking. Are you kidding? I am so proud of you…”

Jacqueline: “Are you serious? That is so cool. I am so proud of you…”

Sam: “Awesome. Are you going to post pictures of yourself getting hammered at parties on Facebook now?”

And, I like people from the start if they remind me of my kids.

I met one yesterday, a Courtney-esque young woman - about that age, smart, nice, and especially nice to me because she was my academic counselor and I was, well, probably like her mom.

I wanted a Psychology course that required three pre-requisites and I had only two. She hopped on the computer and said, “I’ll e-mail the professor right now and let’s see if we can get his permission!”
She pulled up the courses I took ten years ago.
“Wow,” she said, looking into the screen, “Your grades were awesome.”
“Thank you,” I said, sounding mature-awesome.

There are only six courses involved, it will be over in a blink. I’ll do well because I’m Serious. I’ll befriend people because I’ll never be one of those “older” students who come into the classroom and instantly befriend the professor. But I may be the oldest one and it does give me butterflies, so today I called my Jacqueline Flower who is a sophomore at B.U. to give her a chance to boost my confidence.

“Are you kidding? I see students like you all the time, nobody even thinks about it anymore. ” It was all I needed, but she went on… “Seriously Mommy, when you go in, it will be so easy…” and, "It's no big deal, you'll see. It won't make any difference..." until I changed the subject.

I was a little intimidated by the prospect of being surrounded by so many younger, traditional students. But they have been the most supportive and awesome-est of all.

Thank you Dollface, Flower, CocoPop, and Sam Man.

I love you.