Kids flying the coop

Favorite Apron is discussing not believing she is a year away from her son flying the coop. I just got back from discussing such things with friends. We weren't really talking about my oldest flying the coop but I now have a funny question for my parents. I was a professor's brat and took advantage of the free tuition thing at Valpo. So......the deal was that I would stay in town but since there was not tuition to pay for that I could live in the dorm. Did MY mom and dad cry when they dropped me five minutes from home????? I know I kept my identity top secret as both my parents worked on campus. But did they cry? I am sort of doubting it as the phone wasn't long distance so budget was not a concern and.......I worked with my mom at the bookstore at least for a year so I guess we ran into each other.

Because I worked at the bookstore, the subject would sometimes present itself at the checkout counter where I would be asked if I knew a particular professor. Yes, I would smirk and reply that I did know him. Of course they wouldn't know that I knew NOTHING about his classes and only that he enjoyed an occasional beer and his kids talked his ears off. This did not happen all the time but it did on occasion and it was hard not to laugh as it was VERY awkward to work there. I knew MOST of professors and their families so how does one work at a check out counter where people do a lot of complaining about the cost of books, what they have heard about classes etc. I did wise up and I got a job at the computer center so I could work more on my secret identity. There I was the computer Super Hero.


The worst was a day in Art History when a girl I had gotten to know very well started in on the Professor (my dad) tale and the tale started getting pretty uh.....how do I say......uncomfortable or too much complaining is how I would put it. (There is not a professor who has not had somebody complain about them). Then.....the question......."Do you know him?"
"Uh, uh.....yes" and then......she caught on that perhaps I was not telling her everything and somehow I weasled out of telling her he was my dad as I think or rather know she would have felt badly. I truly did try to stop her and I think that is why she figured out that there was something more to why I was trying to stop her. Sigh.....wasn't college fun?

I can't imagine either sending my kiddos off to the next stage in life. We can laugh about it now and think of how odd that will be and ask people to hold our hands. Did my parents cry? I still doubt it. Will I? I am pretty sure I will. If we can open the local University taught by all the PHD's around here then perhaps I won't have to cry. This is just a dream from the dreamers though so stay tuned till a few years from now.