Lines from Linda

Separation Anxiety

Is it just me, or is anyone else raising an independent child? I guess I can hardly call her a child now, as she just turned 18, but my mind still sees the little pony-tail topped 3-year-old bouncing around like a pogo stick when I look at her.

I realize that lately she will soon be off to college and is merely testing her independence, but some days I think that my little girl no longer needs her mother. The thought terrifies me. *sigh*

It reminds me of the time one of my friends visited me long ago (before I had children) with her then 2 1/2-year-old son. He was nearly potty trained and excused himself to the "little boy's room." He completed the task all by himself, and he was so proud. Not yet a parent, I was confused when his mother burst into tears and asked her what was wrong. I thought his accomplishment was great, he thought it was great, and yet his mother wept for no apparent reason.

"He doesn't need me anymore!" she sobbed.

Ah...so that was it. Her little boy was growing up. I gently patted her arm but couldn't relate to what she must have been going through.

After a few minutes, the toddler again bounded down the hallway to the bathroom, only this time he screamed, "MOMMY POO POO!"

I smiled at her and said, "He needs you."

I got a frantic call from my daughter yesterday. She'd been working on props for an upcoming puppet skit at church and decided some sort of welding epoxy would do the trick. It's amazing what you can't buy at Wal-Mart until you turn 18, but now she has the run of the store, so they sold it to her. However, she learned quickly that even the most gentle of squeezes on a tube of goop can send vast amounts of the stuff out the flimsy backside, and she found herself and her project covered in it. Thus the frantic call to mom. She still needs me. *smug smile*

The Back Porch Chicken

Is it just me, or does anybody else have a chicken living on their back porch? To make a short story long, a co-worker of my husband sent home a dozen home-grown eggs a few months ago. Instead of frying an omelet, my hubby incubated them. We faithfully turned the eggs twice a day, just as the Internet instructed. Within a few weeks, seven little chicks emerged. What a miracle! We own a hobby farm, and raise four breeds of ducks, but this was my first chicken hatching. Rhode Island Reds. Beautiful babies. We nurtured and fed them and watched them grow. Soon it was out of the brooder and into the chicken pen. Don had taken great care to critter-proof the pen, and the little chicks began to grow and thrive. Our seven little chickens transformed into four roosters and three hens. Since no one needs four roosters with only three hens, we gave away two of the guys. And since there's no such thing as "critter-proofing" a chicken pen, after one horrific night, we discovered we had only one chicken left--a rooster. Poor guy. We now keep him in a dog carrier at night and let him wander around the yard during the daylight hours. He may be the Fulkerson Farms' lone chicken, but he isn't alone; he made friends with our cat. And their favorite hangout is the back porch. When we let the puppy out, the three of them romp and play around the backyard together. No one taught them cats are hunters and can kill a chicken if they so desire. No one taught them dogs chase cats and kill chickens. No one taught them roosters are notoriously mean and fight anything foreign to their territory. No one taught them those three species typically fear and sometimes even hate each other. What if no one taught children about hate?

Raising Teens

Is there a college class on how to go to college? Surely it wasn't that complicated back when I went to college. If it was, my parents never mentioned it.

I went to college last weekend with my daughter. Thank goodness we went during her junior year of high school. While the students played games at a mixer, the parents spent the afternoon listening to seminars on scholarships, the admissions process, and tuition and books and loans, oh, my!

I knew college was expensive, but I felt confident because my daughter is a straight-A student. I had no idea it cost THAT much and that her academic scholarship would only cover a portion of the fees. As one girl put it, "You mean there's a Two and a Zero, then a comma, and THREE MORE ZEROS??" Yeah, that's what they mean. And it goes up from there, depending on where you go.

Here's the good part. I learned so much that I had never known before. I'd suggest to all parents of high school students to find such a seminar in your community or contact the school your child wishes to attend. Don't wait until their senior year!