Graduation Weekend #2

This weekend in Boston hasn’t exactly turned out like I had envisioned it. The graduation part happened today, but the family stress level is about to go through the roof.

Our visit started out in a thunderstorm on Friday. We are prone to getting lost in Boston, so getting to our hotel in the rental car was a little tense. But then the skies cleared and we met up with Rachel and I got the best haircut of my life at a really upscale salon called James Joseph on Newbury Street. We had a drink and tapas, dropped our daughter off at her house, and headed to the airport to meet our son.

Dealing with adult children presents a whole new set of challenges. The first problem we encountered was our son’s utter disbelief that we expected him to stay in our room. Of course there were no more rooms in the hotel since this is graduation weekend for countless Boston schools. After one night he moved to a different hotel. Since then, there have been transportation issues and we still frequently get lost.

We’re heading out to a family dinner tonight with another family and then the weekend is officially over as we pack up for an early morning flight. I would simply like to rewind so many conversations and remove the words that offended and the catalysts that triggered unhappiness. Unfortunately I think a lot of the cause of the tension can be attributed to me. I have this awful feeling of guilt. It’s times like this when I question my ability to be a good mother. After such a good weekend in Tucson, I was ready for a repeat performance that just didn’t happen here in Boston. I am wondering when the 4 of us will again be together and hoping that the problems of this weekend will have been forgotten and that we will all get along and appear to love each other as family.

Meanwhile, happy graduation to my Rachel. Even though she doesn’t know where her career road is going at this point, she has the ability to survive in good style. She managed to graduate Magna Cum Laude from a reputable school with an impressive degree. She will go far in life I’m sure. Of that I have no doubt.