I write this post with a heavy heart since my oldest is college bound. With new found wings, he is definitely ready to soar. Will he stay green? But as a parent all I can hear is the following lyrics,
“Leaving on a jet plane. Don’t know when I will be back again…”
Except the next line, “Oh, Babe, I hate to go” is definitely not the case. He can’t wait to go to college, and jokes that he will have to peel me off him when he says good-bye. Yes, he is college bound. But I will be brave, having already broken down several times over the course of the week. “Don’t cry in front of him”, cautions my friends. “Let him go.”
But life will change and never return to how it was. I will never have that day in and day out contact that I have been used to for 18 years. Life will be different.
As I write this post, tears are streaming down my face, since my little boy is now a a college bound man. Where did all the years go? As I told you in my post when he voted for the first time, memories of his childhood came flooding back.
So will he continue to follow the green path? I am hoping everything I taught him as I became a greener citizen stuck. Some parents tell their kids to watch their manners and be a good person. I do too but also add to remember to recycle and think of the Earth too…I hope he remembers.
Just to make sure, we packed him with the following for his college bound adventure:
- Organic sheets and comforter for cold winter nights. (eBay special for XL dorm sheets.)
- Stainless steel water bottle and filter for those long study nights.
- Soap nuts for laundry detergent (I told him to tell his friends that his mother is a treehugger if they give him a bizarre look. It may even be a conversation piece for him to meet girls?)
- Eco-enzyme spray for stains
- Sustainable picture frame with a picture all of us so if he gets lonely. He can look at it and think about the funny things his brothers say to cheer him up. Now there will be a threesome at home, not an even foursome. Boy, will the dynamics change.
- Smart Strip surge protector for his room
- Environmentally friendly shampoo, soaps, and other personal care products
- Environmentally friendly deodorant
- organic treats to keep his diabetes in check.
- Used college books.
- Pens and pencils from our stash rather than buying new ones.
Perhaps he will join an environmental cause?
Remember to recycle his paper and bottles?
Maybe he will follow in my footsteps and become an environmentalist?
Opt for the organic food versus the junk? (Who am I kidding?)
Not be wasteful. There are starving children all over the world.
Maybe the gardening skills he acquired may come in handy although he loathes my garden with a passion.
Maybe he will just soar and become the man he is supposed to be. A good, kind and gentle soul. That’s all I can ask. The environmental part will come later.
For now, I just have to remember not to cry. Yes, he is college bound. Give me a handy, please. (Sniff. Sniff.)
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