First Day of High School Update

Heard in the car on the way home from High School:

"How was your day?"

"Great!"

"What did you do?"

"I can't really remember...not much..."

"Who's in your classes?"

"I'm not sure - lots of people I know though..."

"What did your teachers talk about?"

"I can't really remember. Oh yeah, I need a binder for biology..."

"Did you take any notes? They didn't discuss school supplies or give you a syllabus? Did you ask your Geometry teacher about the calculator you need? Do you have homework tonight?"

"Not really...oh yeah, there are these papers..."

High School son sets backpack, containing Student Planner, notebooks, highlighters, sharpened pencils, and color coded pens on the floor of the car.

High School son reaches into pocket and pulls out a wad of crumbled up papers, containing essential data.

It's nice to know some things never change.

I'm learning to play the "Mom of a High School Student" game. Later in the day, on the way to football practice, I did have a more fulfilling conversation with Eric about his day, but it took a little effort on my part. We went through each class on his schedule and specifically discussed the teacher, his fellow students, and the important facts given during the day. "Ask me specific questions Mom," Eric said.

I should have known that this is the way he's always been - he will share, when he's ready. It doesn't come on my time schedule. It helps if he's rested a bit and been recently fed and watered (like a toddler???). I believe that our family dinner hour is going to become more essential than ever this year - that seems to be our best time for conversations. Granted, it may happen at 8:30 pm most nights owing to football practice, but I need to do my best to provide that time for each of us to get caught up with one another.

So Eric has a break from school until Tuesday, when he will hit campus "for real" for the very first time with all the upperclassmen on campus too. In the mean time, I need to sharpen my skills at communicating with a tired, hungry teenage son.