I am sitting in first class on the plane ride to Baltimore for our last family vacation before Brainy Bird is off to college. Little Chirp and I got free upgrades to first class. This is his first time to fly first class. Brainy Bird is in the first row in the coach cabin.
Little Chirp is watching one of the movies on the United airlines free entertainment app. Glancing over, I cannot tell what movie it is, but is action packed, even seeming a bit violent. He is glued to it. Little Chirp is long past the days of me logging into the app for him and helping him pick an age-appropriate movie.
The moment makes me think of all the times that I traveled for work, and I would spend my plane rides thinking about them and writing in my blog about them. I would go months without writing. Now, in my post-pandemic life, I always find time to write. There are some positives to our post-pandemic lives, for me, finding time to write is one of them.
As I take moment to reflect, my head swims in disbelief of how quickly years have flown by. Brainy Bird’s first day of college is just 24 days away. We will be leaving by car to take him to college in just 17 days. I am looking forward to the mother son road trip.
In just twenty months, Little Chirp will get his learner’s permit. He asked me on our drive to the gym yesterday if he can get his permit the day, he turns 15. He turns 15 on a Monday, so I believe that the answer is yes.
He is already asking what kind of car he will get when he turns sixteen. As of right now, the plan is to share my car until he turns eighteen and goes off to college. That will change if I begin to drive as much as I did before the pandemic. As things are right now, I seldom drive my car. It would not make sense to have two cars.
In one-year, Little Chirp starts high school. I plan to enjoy this year of not having a child in high school. I do find myself wondering what path Little Chirp will take in high school. Will he take the four years of engineering and four years of computer science like his brother, or will he find another path? Will Little Chirp continue to bring home the incredible grades that he brings home now?
Of course, I also wonder how Brainy Bird will do his first semester of college. He is absolutely set up to succeed with four computer science courses, vector calculus, and university 101. These are all things he wants to be doing, and things that he is good at. He enjoyed his first overnight stay on campus during his leadership camp last week. I think he is finding that he fits right in at South Carolina. The university does so much to emerge the students into the college experience. This is exactly what Brainy Bird is looking for.
The time goes by so quickly. This past year, the stress of the pandemic has pulled me a way from enjoying the special days with my birds. I am hoping to spend this week refocusing and destressing. These are days that we can never get back.