Consider yourself warned!
A guide for those who think they want children.
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If you live in New York City, you are bound to have an encounter with a mouse. It doesn’t matter how clean you keep your place, eventually a mouse will find its way in. In my neighborhood, there is a lot of new construction going up. Houses are being torn down and apartment buildings are replacing them. Within a three-block radius of my house, there are currently four new apartment buildings being built. Needless to say, we have had an unwelcomed visitor or two.
Luckily for us, a friend of mine referred me to a great exterminator. He came in late November, did what he needed to do, and we had been mouse free since then. That was, until last week. I was on my way home from work when I received the following text from my son: “Hi mommy, can you come home with mouse traps please? There’s a mouse dying out in the open. I caught it.” I didn’t ask any questions. I just bought the glue mouse traps. Although, as I was walking home from the bodega, I did wonder how hard is it to catch a mouse that’s allegedly dying out in the open? My next thought was, “Where exactly did this mouse choose to die? And why did it have to die in the house? It couldn’t wait until it made it back to its nest?” Then, I thought about how I didn’t want to stumble upon it as I walked into the house. So, I called my son to find out where exactly this mouse was dying. He’s not yet an adult, but he gave me the typical “man” answer, which was basically not an answer to my question. He just told me, “Don’t worry. I’m downstairs.” In my mind, I was thinking, “What the hell does that mean?” So, I asked him again. And I received the same response. Eventually, after restating the question several times, he finally told me that the half dead mouse was downstairs in the living room. Man, I feel sorry for my son’s future wife. When I get home, my son showed me how he “trapped” the mouse by creating a fence around it with my yoga mat. I was not happy. Now, I have to get a new yoga mat. Anyway, the exterminator must have left some fast-acting poison in his mouse traps because from what I could see from the chair I was standing on, that mouse really was half dead. It wasn’t moving. My son used the mouse trap to pick up the mouse, disposed of it, and I climbed down off the chair. My son was my hero. I gave him a big hug and kiss and told him that I don’t know what I am going to do when he goes off to college. He just smiled and told me that I would have to do it myself. Yeah, I don’t think so. I know by now you may be wondering what is the point of this story. The point is this, when this kid goes off to college in August, I am going to need someone else to come over and take care of any other mice that find their way into my house! My daughter definitely can’t do it. That girl is terrified of mice. Whenever she sees one, she screams so loud that she scares the poor mouse. Then, she and the mouse have a race to see who can get out of the room the fasted. I’m not exaggerating. That actually happened. So, if you are like me, squeamish when it comes to mice, and you happen to live in New York City, you either need to have more than one son, get a cat, or have a good neighbor who will help you out. So, now you know, and you can .... Consider Yourself Warned! What things do you have your kids do that you don’t like to do?
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I attended Spelman College, an historically black, all women college. I loved and cherish my years at Spelman. The friendships I have with my Spelman sisters have lasted a lifetime. I have even developed friendships with Spelman sisters that I didn’t even know in college but have met years after graduating from Spelman. My children know many of my Spelman sisters as their aunts and they have been instrumental in their lives. Tonight, I am traveling with my daughter to Atlanta. She is going to with me to my 30th college reunion. This is a big deal for me as first, I can’t believe that its been 30 years since I graduated from college, and second, I can’t believe that my daughter actually agreed to go with me.
When I mentioned to my daughter that I was thinking about taking her to my reunion, I thought that she would tell me that she didn’t want to be bothered. Instead, she surprised me by saying that she wouldn’t mind going. I later discovered that she really wanted to go because she knew that we would be staying with Aunt Cassie (my Spelman sister) and she wanted to play with her dog (my daughter is an animal lover. I am not). But hey, if that’s what it takes to get her there, I’ll take it As much as I try to impress upon my daughter that she should attend Spelman, she keeps telling me how she does not want to go there. I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. I remember being her age and my mom telling me about her alma mater, Livingstone College. She told me that it was an AME Zion school. Once I heard that, I knew I wasn’t going to apply there. I was probably wrong, but in my imagination, I saw myself being forced to go to church every day. No thank you! The fact that the college was in North Carolina didn’t help either. I was 16. I wanted to go to parties, not church. Anyway, my daughter keeps telling me that she wants to go to a college that is diverse and co-ed. On the one hand, I don’t blame her. She attends an all girls Catholic high school (her choice, not mine), and does not have daily interactions with boys other than her brother. I remember being 16. So, I understand her desire to have a boyfriend and date. But I keep explaining to her that Morehouse College and Clark/Atlanta University are both literally right across the street from Spelman. She can take classes at both of those colleges as well as at Spelman. By attending Spelman, she can have the best of both worlds! But, she doesn’t get it. So, tonight we will be flying to Atlanta for our Mother/Daughter weekend. I hope and pray that she feels the Spelman love so that she will want to join our sisterhood. I would love to be able to call her my daughter and my Spelman Sister (and hopefully one day, my Soror). As much as we want to guide our children to do what we think is best for them. All we can do is offer guidance. As one of my classmates reminded me, as hard as it is to do, we have to let go and allow them make their own decisions. Let me tell you, that is sooooooo hard to do. So, now you know and you can … Consider Yourself Warned! Did you want your child to attend a particular college? If so, what happened? If you have a kid applying to college, or know someone who does, then you know that yesterday was decision day. For those of you who don’t know, May 1st is the date high school seniors need to inform the college of their choice that they will be attending, and the deadline for parents to make the down payment to reserve their seat. When I was in high school, this was not a special day. You just quietly made your decision and maybe told a friend or two. Not anymore. For this generation, decision day is a big deal where kids wear the paraphernalia of their future college to announce their decision, and parents post it on social media.
Up until Saturday, we were still not sure which college my son would attend. But, after reviewing his options, it was decided. And the winner is ......... Syracuse University, my son’s first choice of the colleges he was accepted into. So, Saturday night my son pick out a hoodie online. Tuesday, Amazon delivered it. And yesterday, my son proudly wore his Syracuse hoodie to school. My son is so excited. He hasn’t stopped talking about what he’s going to do once he gets to college: what he will major in, the parties he will attend, the new people he will meet. He’s already received a welcome email which informed him of his move in date. When he told me, I just wanted to cry. The little baby I brought home over 17 years ago, the little baby that I loved, cared for, and nurtured for over 17 years is really getting ready to leave me. As much as that saddens me, I look forward to seeing what this new chapter of his life brings. Look out world, here comes my son! So, now you know and you can .... Consider Yourself Warned! |
SassyGirlTye lives with her two wonderful teenagers in Brooklyn, New York. No matter what she says in her posts, she truly loves her children with all her heart.
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