Mom of Teens: How time flies

My daughters began their school year this week.

For those wondering, they are on a modified school calendar, similar to the quarter system in college. My oldest will be a junior and the younger a sophomore. It's really beginning to sink in that my babies aren't babies anymore. They are young ladies, poised on the edge of the nest, itching to take that first solo flight.

Of course I've known that for while. But something about the oldest only having two more years of high school left really shook me. There are only two more years to be able to try to prepare her for college and young adulthood. It's scary. I keep asking myself if I've taught her all the right things. Have I equipped her to make the best possible decisions? And that leads to the scariest question. “Will she choose to make the best possible decisions?” Have I modeled the right things for her, been a good example? I can't say I have in everything. I'm not perfect. But I have tried. I'm hoping my efforts have been enough. Will be enough.

I look at my younger daughter and feel a smaller comfort because I do have one extra year. But, she and I are often like oil and water. I really want to remedy that before she makes her way to college. I really want to fix that now. I don't expect to be her best friend but I'd like for us to be able to communicate better. And perhaps if we can achieve that, it will teach her that even difficult relationships can be revamped, renewed and restored. That's a valuable lesson she'd be able to use for the rest of her life.

It may sound like I never expect to have any further influence once they start college. That's not the case. It's just that college is like their first real test flight. I want to see them take-off, soar, maneuver and land as safely as possible. That's a mother's heart.

As I reminiscence, it seems like time passed like a supersonic jet. I know I can't slow time down. Time flies. That's just how it is. The good thing is that I can still make the most of their remaining flight lessons.

I pray I turn out to have been a good flight instructor.