It's Hard To Let Go When They're 18

Okay, so as soon as my son turned 18, I noticed changes.

First, I couldn't make doctor's appointments for him. If I tried, they'd be all, "Oh I see he's 18, I'll need to speak to the patient."

I was like:

I had been making appointments for him since I pushed him out of me! It felt like the rug was ripped out from under my feet.

Then I asked his college where to go to state that he had autism. I was replied with, "I'm sorry, I can only communicate with the student."

It happens so fast! One minute I was being asked ALL THE THINGS and the next it's all, "Sorry, nope, he might be living at home, and you might still be washing his underwear, but he's 18 and you're no longer relevant." Obviously they didn't say that, but it felt like it. You'd think this would gradually happen but no, once they turn 18, the parents aren't needed.

It felt like a kick to heart, honestly.

And it's not like I'm trying to baby him, but I mean, I'm used to asking all the questions. For standing up for him. It's hard to suddenly step back from that. I've been doing it for EIGHTEEN YEARS.

But I'm trying.

Since Tommy's college is remote for the fall, he had to do a bunch of things via zoom. It was so hard for me not to see if he needed help. I listened outside his door for a bit, I won't lie. Does that make me crazy? Maybe. But he's my boy.

He had to do his new student orientation online, plus register for his classes. That was tricky for him as well, but he figured it out. I know it's good for him to do things on his own, even if he is confused. (I could hear him say, "What do I click?" when he was registering for classes multiple times.) But I am proud of him, because he can meltdown when frustrated, but he held it together.


So I will step away. I know he's capable.

Even if it does sting a little.

Hey, It's Okay

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you're okay about. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with Hey, It's Okay. It's rude and I'll delete the link.

HEY, IT'S OKAY....



....to have stayed home for 4th of July and watched a Real Housewife marathon. You can watch all the old episodes on Hulu, so that's basically what I did.



.....to not be surprised that Kanye is running for president. 2020 has been a complete crazy year, so it's just like, "Oh. Ok."



.....to need to watch The Babysitter's Club on Netflix with Natalie. I used to read those books all the time. I had piles and piles of them.



.....to have LOVED Hamilton. We watched on Disney+ over the weekend and it was amazing. I knew the soundtrack of course, but had never seen the actual show. I'll be watching again and I still hope to see it on stage one day.



.....to proudly wear our masks out in public. I know some people say it's against their freedom, and that's great for them, but my family will be in masks when we go out, not only for our benefit, but for others as well.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Summer Outfits From Target, Kohls, And PacSun For Teenagers

Summer is here! And it's HOT in Texas.

However.

Restaurants and stores like to blast the air conditioning, and my daughter and I freeze. So we're the ones walking into places with jackets or sweatshirts. People look at like, "Uh, it's 100 outside." We know. We chill easily. So that's why some of these outfits aren't what you'd typically see in the summer.

These outfits were bought from Target and PacSun.


So this outfit would be worn in the summer. But when we go to restaurants, Natalie will bring a jacket and a blanket. A jacket for her arms, a blanket for her legs. The top is from Target and the shorts are from PacSun.

The sunglasses are also from PacSun. If I wore these, I'd look ridiculous.

I irritated her for the 348th time of the day. I get this look a lot.

These jeans are from PacSun and the top is from Target.

The lightbulb is from WalMart.

This swimsuit is from Hot Topic.

The jeans are from PacSun and the top and belt are from Target.

The jean jacket is from the Lauren Conrad line at Kohl's. Jeans are from Kohl's as well, the top is from Target. The denim or denim look which again I would look ridiculous in.

The top is actually a bodysuit from Target, mask from Etsy, and belt from Rue21.

The top is from Target and the mask was made by a friend!

You might have noticed a lot of these looks are from the 90s, which apparently are back in style. Natalie LOVES the 90s looks. She found this shirt from Target and I swear I wore something like this in the 90s.

Finally, I let my daughter pick out some items on the Billie Eilish store for getting good grades. This was a shirt from the concerts Billie had planned to do but were canceled due to Covid19. Natalie is aching to go to a Billie Eilish concert. I told her if she ever comes to San Antonio, we'll go. Also, if you buy this shirt, some of the proceeds go to Direct Relief.

These were the tour date locations:

And of course, she had to get a mask, and she gets lots of compliments on it. Proceeds from the purchase also go towards a good cause.

Natalie does have more shorts that she'll wear if we'll be outside for long periods of time. But we always have our light jackets with us so we're not freezing in stores or restaurants. Not that we go to many places these days, but when we do, the jacket comes.


Do you chill easily?