Emotionally Crippling My Son is the Right Thing to do
Like Jane, Alexander is signed up for sleep away summer camp. It was a bit of a stretch to find a camp for him because none of his school friends are going to camp and the few friends we knew that we headed off to camp are going to the east coast. We settled on one that’s a short week, four and a half days, and as I wrote out the check my heart sank and my stomach was tied up in knots.
I’ve fought against every maternal instinct I have, and I’m letting my son leave home. I’m even encouraging it. I’m all relaxed about the camp issue and talking with the other moms like it’s no big deal. Inside my head the Mom Voice is screaming this is a VERY BIG DEAL.
This morning I went to wake Alexander up for for school and he rolled over towards me, didn’t open his eyes, put his arms out to hug me and said, “I love you Mom.”
I bent over, hugging my son, and smelled the sweetness of his shoulder. I’ve decided that the Mom Voice wins and that from this moment on I’ll be on a campagin to emotionally cripple that boy so that he can live with me forever.