And Then There Was One

Yesterday morning I found a text from Colin on my phone:

"Pfffffff. Being the only child in this house is like having a swimming lane to yourself. Have fun in college, I will be making my way through high school"

 Colin had sent this message to his brothers Monday night. His middle-brother went back to school on Sunday, leaving him as the only child at home.

The Last Supper ( before middle-son went back to school )

Saturday night hubs and I took Colin and his brother out for a nice dinner. It is a tradition to take our boys out for a meal before they go back to school. The guest of honor picked one of our favorite Italian restaurants. We had a lovely meal and everyone was in a great mood.

When dinner was over and we were waiting for the check, Colin started to collect the dishes around him and stack them.  As he started to stack the glasses, both middle-son and I told Colin to stop as it was unnecessary and they might get stuck.

I pointed out the irony that he never clears his plates at home but somehow is able to do this in a restaurant. To which Colin replied, " well then I'd be helping YOU." with a smirk on his face. I responded with an "Ouch! That hurt!"  Hopefully it was all in jest. On the way home, I did mention that I was still hurt. It was our joke of the evening.

Back at home when the boys were out of earshot, both hubs and I remarked that this was the best dinner in years. Colin has come a long way and things are feeling normal again.


As always..... We are a work-in-progress!

 

Happy 2017

The holidays have come and gone. Eldest went back to school yesterday while middle-son has a few more weeks at home. Colin has been back at school for a week and we are continuing our routine. Today was another early morning where I dropped Colin off at his 6:15 a.m. swim practice.

Colin had been sleeping on the family room couch but his allergies to the dog have been getting worse. I'm not sure if this is partially due to a cold but decided to use this as an opportunity to get him into a bed. Over break he started to use the bed in the loft. After eldest left last night, I washed his sheets and told Colin he could use his brother's room. I was happy to see him take me up on the offer.

This morning seemed to go pretty smoothly between getting Colin up on time, packed up and to his practice with a minute to spare. I am hoping this trend continues.

Boring is Good

Christmas eve we had dinner at my sister-in-law's. It was a nice, calm, evening with no drama. The sort of affair that my son would call boring. In my book that is Success! Christmas Day was another calm, quiet affair. It was nice having all my boys home. They seemed to get along, although much time was spent with each of them in their rooms doing their own thing.

Eldest was able to take his brother to swim practices where he also participated. Middle-son pitched in and helped with some of the driving. He also took his baby brother out for dinner one night to try out a new pizza place. They also bought a few new video games.

The two concerns that I have are 1. Colin seems to have developed a series of rashes that the doctor thinks is a bacterial infection. Colin now has ointments to apply and we are hoping that things don't get worse as the swim season continues. 2. The amount of time Colin spends video gaming is a bit more than I feel is prudent. This seems to create some late night study sessions due to poor time management but unfortunately this is something Colin will have to figure out on his own. Luckily he has still been able to maintain over a 4.0 due to all of his A.P. classes.

On the Horizon

Two issues looming over the rest of this year. 1. Driver's Ed & Learner's Permit. 2. College Visits

Colin will be 16 in a few months and is ready to start driving lessons. I am leaving this up to his dad as I am too nervous to do this. He also wants to start planning college visits and has mentioned Chicago as one of the cities he wants to go to. We have not taken any long car trips or airplane rides since he was 12 years old and our journey with Misophonia was in full swing.

This should be some interesting territory to navigate!

As always, we are a work-in-progress!