The Wilson family has reached a major milestone, friends. Our youngest turned 20 recently, marking us as officially done with teenagers! Huzzah! And while I’m ecstatic to be finished with that challenging phase of life and know that in reality nothing has changed, I’ll admit to already being nostalgic. My babies are adults now!
The middle school years, I do not miss. They are horrible for kids, and they are horrible for parents. Bullies, periods, braces, acne, mean girls, band concerts and that godforsaken carpool line. Ages 13 and 14, no thank you!
But high school and those first few steps into independence after graduation? Those are the memories I cherish. Like the time when our oldest was 16 and called to tell me he’d been in a fender bender, four days into having his driver’s license. It was Mother’s Day. Classic. Or when we busted our other son with a girl he’d sneaked in through the walk-out basement. We immediately christened him the 17-year-old “Night Moves.” And I’ll never forget the trip to New York with his twin sister her senior year where we waited literally for hours in the freezing rain to get an overpriced-but-worth-it milkshake at a swanky SoHo joint. Of course, our fourth child has been our world traveler, spending most of her 19th year backpacking across three continents. The hundreds of facetime calls to hear about her latest crazy cab ride or hostel debacle have brought me immense joy.
What’s up next? Who knows. Grad schools, cool loft apartments, perhaps a wedding or, gulp, a grandbaby. Regardless, the Wilsons are saying farewell to teenagers! Huzzah!
Peace out.
