Adulthood, Work, Camp and a Little Bit of Mourning His Childhood

This was originally written on DC's first day of camp , during his first summer out of the school system. He was 22 when I wrote this; he is 27 now.

It is a hard adjustment reaching adulthood and leaving the school system behind...

We can’t have it both ways…. but it’s still a little bit sad.

Today was my son’s first day going to day camp this summer. He has attended this camp since he was 5 – he’s 22 now.

Every summer he would go to camp all summer long, even staying after until 8pm for a special after camp program they hold twice a week. He loves it there.

Now that he’s 22 and aged out of the school system, he is in a work program, year round. I was shocked when I started looking at programs for him that they don’t have the summers off!

Of course they don’t, they are adults and have to do their job every day, just like we do. But it was a rude awakening for me at the time.

Everything changes after “school-age”.

He has aged out of Challengers baseball. Seventeen years of baseball….over.

No more February vacations, Spring Vacations or Summer vacations.

He is “working” now, with 3 weeks’ vacation, holidays and some sick time, just like everyone else.

This was probably the hardest transition for me so far. I have to think to call work, “work” and not “school”.

It takes a minute, when I panic that I haven’t set up anything for February vacation to realize that there is no February vacation any more.

Him becoming an Adult may actually be harder on me that it is on him. It is just such a huge change.

Yes, I know we are moving into adulthood and working toward independence; as much independence as his capabilities will allow.

Yes, I know this was the goal all along, but on the other hand, he’s still so much a child.

He’s still watching “Barney” (22 years of Barney! That’s a Support Group I need to form, anybody?) - he is still reading and watching Disney and is not embarrassed to hug and kiss his Mom.

On some level, for me, as much as I always work and hope for more progress, I love it,  it is nice.

This should be a happy time, and of course it is. He is an adult. He is in a program that he loves, but when summer comes around and it is time for camp to start, it’s a little bit sad that he doesn’t get to spend a fun filled, happy-go-lucky summer at camp as he used to. He only gets his two weeks.

Because…..

he’s an adult now………

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Originally Posted - We can’t have it both ways…. but it’s still a little bit sad.  at Taking it a Step at a Time

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This blog is used for shorter posts, off topic posts and also for longer Facebook statuses. Please visit my official blog site at: Taking it a Step at a Time