Hi Everyone-
Well, the Bear is off to school and all seems to be going well so far. Mind you, he started off with a very generous head-start in the habitation-readiness department, thanks to a heavy assist from his very 'helpfool' Mother. The cupboards are fully stocked, the freezer is packed, and should a sudden, rogue September snowstorm hit Farmington, he can hole up and survive for at least a month, I figure. I sleep better at night knowing he could weather such an event.
Having seen him cook very few things while living here at home, I have been wondering if all that food would simply lie unused while pizza boxes and McDonald's bags pile up in the trash. Happily, such is not the case. Not every night, mind you, but more than a few times since the Bear took up solitary residence, he has sent photographs of "tonight's dinner". To our joint parental surprise, there has been a vegetable in every picture, and I am not just talking about ketchup, Ronald Reagan.
One night, there was even a salad. With italian dressing.
When I recovered from the shock of seeing a salad dressed (drowned) in something other than Hidden Valley Ranch, I realized that I didn't buy him any lettuce or tomatoes or italian dressing, which meant that he must have gone to the grocery store and bought them himself. But even though I recognized the plate as his, and recognized the placemat as his, I ran the photo through a photo-shop checking program to make sure it hadn't been doctored. Kids are pretty tech-savvy these days, after all. When it came back as authentic, I damn near fainted.
It hasn't been all gold-medal accomplishments and personal bests, of course. I did get the "Mom. I just turned on my oven and it smells funny" phone call. When I asked how it smelled, the reply was "hot". Hmmm. Evidently, ovens are only supposed to smell like banana bread, lasagna, roasted chicken and apple pie like they do at home. You know....the magic self-filling oven that I have that goes with the self-filling fridge I mentioned a few weeks back?
Some of the panic calls are endured with motherly patience and addressed with the calm voice of experience. Better that he ask about the oven making a funny smell than ignore it and burn down the building, I figure. But the text from Physics class saying "I need a pad of graph paper."? Not so patient a reply: "Go to the bookstore and buy one." As my parents used to say when asked to do something I was perfectly capable of doing for myself: "What, do you have a bone in your leg?"
I need to start using that one more, I think. Probably should have been using it for a while now. Bring on the Mother guilt.
Living on his own will be a crash course for the Bear, but already he is discovering his innate ability to become self-sufficient. Withdrawal of help, as in nature with real Bears, is resulting in an awakening of the survival instinct and an increase in attempts to self-help. It isn't nature VS nurture. It's nature AND nurture.
Everyone grows up eventually. No matter how hard the statisticians try, we cannot all be plotted on the same curve. Our paths are different, none are linear, our experiences all unique. Life is not a race to the finish---we all finish, eventually. The trick is to find a path and fellow-travelers that make you happy. And then, simply, enjoy the journey, discovering new things about yourself along the way.
It's what I hope life holds in store for the Bear...and the rest of you, too.
Until next week--there is a new PotW on the site. Link below. No particular tie-in to the message, but check it out anyway!
Kim
Two Willows Jewelry
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