Awww, They Still Need Me

Some might think that the helping stage of a mother's life ends when her child goes off to college. Clearly she was needed when the babies were learning to walk, and when they were starting to navigate the dark waters of middle school. But is parenting really necessary once a child graduates from high school?

I'm not sure what we call this demographic--if ages 11 and 12 are not quite teens and we call them tweens, what do we call these 18- and 19-year-olds? I think Tah-Dah's! would be the appropriate characterization of the teen/adult age group.

They're competent and self-reliant, to the point that clicky eye-rolling is clearly audible when a parent asks certain questions. (The question currently provoking this reaction in the MomQueenBee household is "So, any summer plans?") Clearly, they need no help.

Every once in a while, though, I see glimpses of the days when the Boys were much more reliant on my parental skills and wisdom. These glimpses mostly come when I boot up my e-mail each morning.

Yesterday morning the subject line was in all caps:

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT!!!  I NEED YOU TO EDIT THIS PAPER BY ABOUT 8:30-8:45 AM TODAY!  (Again.  Sorry, mother.)

Oh, yeah.

I'm not only MomQueenBee, I'm the Editing Goddess, and they may not need my advice on their romantic lives or career plans or even which tie to wear with which shirt, but they'll never outgrow their need for my unparalleled expertise concerning the serial comma.

Tah-Dah!, indeed.