“I’m so mad. I got all the way to my car to go to Orange Theory and forgot my keys. Now I won’t make the class in time,” read Jill’s text to me on Friday.
Thirty minutes later… “Ugh. All of the other classes are fully booked today. Don’t these people need to study?” Exams were coming up and most of the attendees in the daytime Orange Theory classes in Tuscaloosa were college students.
I smiled. My daughter is turning into me.
Last Monday I took a “mental health” afternoon off and spent it at Barnes and Noble reading for fun and then a bit of shopping.
As I stood in the mile long checkout line at T.J. Maxx on Monday at 3:00pm (which I wouldn’t have done because the line was unbelievable long but I REALLY needed a new summer purse and found the perfect one on sale), I thought to myself, “Don’t these people have a job?”
It’s easy to think that just because we have a certain schedule and way of doing things that everyone else should follow suit. After all, I was the one playing hooky here. What the hell were these people doing? Anyway, I digress…
Just a few weeks ago, Jill was visiting her boyfriend at another college. He had golf practice so he couldn’t entertain Jill. He offered to hook her up with some of the girlfriends of other players on the golf team.
Jill calls me and says “OMG, Mom. I realize that I am turning into YOU! I thought about the offer to hang with some of the other girls and realized that I would rather go to Barnes and Noble to study and browse the books. An afternoon to myself sounded great. Hey, can I use the credit card to buy myself lunch there?”
Wow. My daughter really is turning into me.
It’s always been a little eerie when during long road trips together we would start blurting out the same phrases at the exact same moment. Drives Jill crazy when we do that. Makes me smile that, much to her chagrin, we are more alike than my daughter cares to admit.
I am leaving today for Tuscaloosa to move Jill out of her dorm following her last exam to move home for the summer.
I cannot believe how fast her first year of college has flown by! This will probably be Jill’s last summer at home, my husband laments. Probably true but it seems like a blessing these days for your kids to “launch.” That has always been my dream for my kids. That they become independent, self-sufficient, and of course, happy adults.
With each new season in our family’s lives, I pause to reflect if the Family Succession Plan we have in place is still appropriate or if it should be updated in some way.
You can do the same with me now by clicking the button below to reserve your Family Succession Strategy Session.
If Jill keeps up her current trend of responsibility, Andrew and I may consider lowering the age that Jill and her brother receive their inheritance.
Guess what, kids? You don’t need to wait until you’re 50 until you get your money! Ha ha.
But first, we have to get through this summer having Jill back home again. I know the house rules and boundaries will be tested. Wish us luck!
Kristen “Praying for a Successful Launch” Marks
