Way To Go

I'm getting a kick out of dropping my boy off at the local high school. 

Not that I want to get rid of him - not at all! Homeschooling dies hard, after all, and 

I miss the company of My Youngest so very, very much! 

But returning home fully dressed, with shoes on, before 8 a.m is pretty wonderful.

It seems to lengthen the day, almost to double it! 

Enough to take foggy-background photos guilt free.

*

This morning we waited behind a big ol' car as another high schooler unloaded.

A burley teenager fairly leaped out of the car, and a split second later, his mother did, too.

She crossed behind the vehicle, headed for her boy.

He turned to her and, as if it was a matter of course, submitted to a goodbye kiss.

Does it matter that it was a lip kiss? Does your family lip kiss or cheek kiss?

Sometimes I end up kissing the sleeve of one of my tall sons, if they're on the way out 

and in too much of a hurry for a cheek smooch.

Sometimes they bend down to plant a quick kiss my forehead or temple.

But there is no lip kissing around here ... at least none between parent and son.

ANYWAY - The point is that the mom was kissing her son goodbye in the 

middle of a teeming high school parking lot!

**

She sent me a prickly glance on her way back to the driver's side.

I smiled and nodded in return, hoping that my respect for the Parking Lot Kiss would be

evident. She would not receive any condemning glares from me! If a kid is still willing

to hop out of the car and (lip) kiss you goodbye in front of 471.5 other teenagers, then, well 

WAY TO GO

* Don Juan climbing rose

** Mandevilla vine