college | conTIMplating

My second eldest daughter, Thing 2, graduates high-school this spring whereupon accolades for successfully making it through the simplest part of life will no doubt be generously bestowed upon her. After that comes…well, therein lies the proverbial and axiomatic rub. College seems to be all the rage these days for young high-school graduates so I suppose in order to avoid rocking the cultural and aphoristic boat, college is where we will probably send her.

But we are of course concerned. Concerned that she will make good decisions. Concerned for her safety. But most of all concerned that once she gets out into the real world she might get her feelings hurt. This is why we have scoured the finest of educational institutions in search of the one most likely to protect her from those nasty microagressions of self-expression that are bound to emotionally scar her and render her unable to function due to a general feeling of victimizing disagreement.

Looking around, we liked Continue reading →

Last week was a rite of passage for me. No, it was not breeching, smarty pants. Nor was it completing my Rumspringa, something you are sure to Google and to which there is no end in sight. What I did last week was take part in the compulsory and sometimes traumatic Western middle-age ceremony known as “Dropping Off Your Firstborn at College.”

Wow, does the time go fast. It seems like just yesterday I was cleaning up the pasty Vaseline and baby powder concoction Thing 1 spread liberally about herself and her childhood bedroom. Now here I am launching her three states away with the freedom and independence to do the same in an Indiana dorm full of strangers. Continue reading →