Class of 2012....Part One

The times they are a-changing.  What a journey this has proven to be.  And, I don’t know if the fact that we are approaching the one-year anniversary of the dam breaking in our family, or if I am just having issues with the fact that my daughter is becoming an adult, but my anxiety-level is on high right now.  This whole thing is so much more complicated than I ever thought possible….how does one hold on to their dreams, while having to re-write the map to the dreams?  Are they my dreams, or her dreams? How can she accomplish this? How can I help her to accomplish this? Does she want to accomplish this? How does Brady fit into this?  How much do I let go? How much do I hang on?  CALGON TAKE ME AWAY! 

We went to school to sign her up for classes for her senior year, only to discover that she has less than 2 credits left to complete, and she is done.  This calculates to four classes for one quarter.  Or, in her case, 2 classes for one quarter and 2 classes for one semester.  Then she is done with high school. The end – Amen. 

Statistically, she should be behind.   Most teenaged mothers put themselves back at least one semester, and usually one year, in school when they become pregnant prior to their senior year of high school.  Statistically, most teen-aged mothers don’t complete high school and ultimately either obtain a GED or do not finish.  But, if there is one thing that is to be learned from my daughter, it is this….she is not a statistic.  If there is a backwards, up-a-rope and down-a-building, in-a-window and out-a-door-way to accomplish something, she will surely go for it.  Come to find out, all that summer school and her absolute love of Independent Study put her ahead when she was out having a baby. And, the topping of the cupcake…she passed her math MCA while she was actually in labor - only my daughter could accomplish such a feat….

So, what do we do?  WHAT DO WE DO?  Academically she may be ready for high school to be over, but socially, she may not be ready for high school to be over.  And, as I have preached in this blog since the beginning, I WANT HER TO HAVE A SENIOR YEAR. So, she and I have picked it apart and put it back together again….again…and again. 

I gave her the decision about swimming.  For the very first time in her short life, I left it up to her, with the only advice from me being to not leave any regrets out there.  So, after many, many weeks of thinking about it and not thinking about it, and worrying about her body, and her ability to be social with the other girls, and most importantly her time away from Brady… she has decided to TRY swimming.  She is committed to the 1/3 of the season where she can participate and still get her money back if she decides that it is too much time away from her real world.  She is happy with her decision and I am ecstatic…but that is beside the point. 

And as for that time when she is done with her high school credits?  Well, how about a little college?  Yes, she is going to enter the world of a college freshman in January - one semester ahead of her peers.  Yes, I said AHEAD. 

You will not find this life plan outlined in “How to” Books, but who knows, we may be writing our own book…. I am just along for the ride.