T minus months to parental retirement
My alarm starts going off at 6:20AM. I really should get up then. If I did, my morning would be less hectic. But I never do.
I don’t have parenting duties in the morning like I used to have. My son is capable of getting up and getting out of the house on his own. Still, I usually make sure he’s out of bed by 7:05. Sometimes he’s glad because he’s fallen back asleep. Sometimes he’s irritated because he’s getting up to a second alarm at 7:08 and I interrupted those last few precious minutes.
Lately, I’ve been making his lunch. He doesn’t need me to do it, but he thanks me, and with just months left before he leaves for college, I take a great deal of joy in this simple act: bologna sandwich, fruit, bag of chips, a cookie… His lunch hasn’t changed much since …