Post Homeschooling.

We're in the post homeschooling phase right now.  Youngest son just had a birthday and is now 19.  He's probably going to be starting college in the fall (either college or an apprenticeship).  We've mildly tried to talk our daughter into going with him.  Her job is only in the afternoon so she can take morning classes.  We really probably need to step up the pressure because otherwise I'm afraid she'll never do it and I think that everyone needs to have some type of career skill that they can fall back on if they need it.  Meanwhile, we are trying to enjoy summer, and planning for the wedding which is in less than 2 WEEKS!

I'm on a push to try and get the kids to socialize because that can be a problem for homeschoolers especially if your homeschool group falls apart and you have to join another one for your kid's senior year, which is what happened to us.  This new group has been great and has been extremely welcoming and I kind of wish we'd just been in it the whole time.  Right now we have plans to meet with people from this group every week of the summer for either board games or Dungeons and Dragons.  I facilitate these experiences for my young adults by reserving the room at the library and staying and supervising.  I know my kids don't need me to supervise, but there are younger kids there, so for their sake, I stay and make sure no one gets into any trouble.  I'm also trying to get them to say yes to other social events which is kind of hit and miss.

I found another D&D group they could get into and they've joined that.  This one they can do without my supervision because I'm not in charge of it.  They just go to the meeting place themselves.  This is a huge step for these 2 extremely shy kids of mine.  (And no, homeschooling didn't cause it or the oldest would be shy too and he's not. So there!.)  They said no to a festival our library was having this weekend but they said yes to an event that's happening there tonight (which I will post about later).  My main focus right now is helping support them while they launch their way into the adult world.  I do think homeschooling and my particular type of helicopter parenting has made it more difficult for them to go and do things on their own, so we are all working on it together.  I also think that both of those things have made some things better for our kids and so there was a trade-off.  They are great people and we'll get through this and they'll be fine.  It's just not the same with these younger 2 as it was with the oldest.