Summer is here, but not without its share of blood, sweat and tears. As parents, we’re used to trudging through it all — unstoppable forces until we come up against that immovable object. This year, just 72 hours after the first day of summer, I came face to face with my immovable object: a hip gone bad.
By the time you read this, I’ll have undergone surgery and will be (I hope) recovering well at home. While none of us ever wants to go under the knife, the timing was perfect. Since learning last year that I needed surgery, my main refrain was: “Just please let it be after my son’s prom, graduation and college admissions stuff.” In other words, like many moms, I had no time to take care of me. Thankfully, one by one, each of Sol’s senior-year milestones was reached:
He received his college acceptances, then made his final choice.
He attended prom — and on a yacht in Marina del Rey. But on the afternoon of prom, I got my first call ever from a school nurse: Our son had cut his finger on a robotics project and needed stitches! Luckily, my husband got him in and out of a packed urgent care by playing the prom card, and I found the perfect last-minute brooch for his tux by texting him photos from the shop and awaiting his yay or nay responses.
He turned 18!
He graduated — and we parents screamed our heads off as our robe-clad progeny pretended not to hear us.
We threw a backyard garden party to celebrate the graduate’s rite of passage with our extended community.
He got the nose piercing he’s been begging for. “At 18, you don’t need your parents for most stuff,” he told me. Yet, tuition still has to be paid and he still expects my hearty breakfast “sammiches” every morning.
As we cleaned up the party leftovers, I could sense a shift in my parenting journey: In a way, my husband and I were graduates, too.
In June, our digital editor, Nina Harada, attended her eldest’s kindergarten promotion. She emailed the L.A. Parent team after the ceremony: “I barely held it together. I am going to be a MESS for all graduations to follow. Cassandra, how did you survive Sol’s?!”
So far, I’ve held it together, but I have a feeling that come August (campus move-in time), I’ll have had a few breakdowns. And yet, these good cries are like a soft drizzle compared to the storms so many of our fellow families are facing (ICE raids, still trying to find their way after the L.A. fires and more).
I hope you and your family have a safe summer — and that you find ways to play, explore and unplug — even in the midst of chaos. This edition is a beautiful guide to help you do just that.
