As a reminder that we are each blessed with such a short time with our children to rear them in the love and admonition of the Lord, I was one of our PCA parents to reflect on the senior year with her daughter, now a sophomore at Wake Forest, and to give us some insight and wisdom for how to make the most of the limited time we have with our children to prepare them for the challenges and opportunities ahead. Parents with seniors, these thoughts were written especially to you, but we can all appreciate these sentiments whether are children are seniors in high school or in PreK-4. Enjoy these heartfelt words from PCA mom Susan Thomas.

Oh my! It is difficult for me to believe my daughter graduated from PCA two years ago and is now a sophomore in college. Where does time go to? Her time in high school seemed to rush by, and something tells me that she will be out of college and my son starting college before I blink my eyes a few more times. As the parent of a senior, you may be feeling as if the time left with your child at home is all too rapidly coming to a close – trust me, I well remember that feeling!

Try to think of your child’s remaining semester at PCA as a beginning – not ending. This sounds trite, I know, but it really is the beginning of one of the most exciting chapters of your child’s life. A good friend reminded me of this two years ago; we both had seniors graduating that year and made a pact to rejoice with our daughters, not grieve. If you can learn to look at the remaining months you have left before unloading your child at college as a blessing, you will be able to make the most of this sweet, special time and makes many lasting memories.

May I give you some suggestions for these next few months? One would be to trust and support your child as they make decisions relating to college and career choices. When my daughter informed me during her junior year that the only college for her was Wake Forest University, exactly 1180 miles away in North Carolina, and she was willing to continue to work extremely hard in order to gain admission there, I wanted to cry!  How could she know that Wake Forest was right for her? How could she move so far from home for college when she never even liked going away for a week of summer camp? How could our family survive without seeing her for months on end? When I saw the joy in her eyes when she talked about Wake Forest and realized that she was willing to forego some of the normal high school fun activities in order to attain the grades needed to be admitted, however, I decided to trust her and her judgment. Am I ever glad I did! I believe God truly led her to Wake Forest; she is happier than she’s ever been and is thriving there, 1180 miles away from Dallas.

Another suggestion I have for you is to treasure and maximize your family time.  Doing things together and creating memories will be what you draw upon next year when the reality of college sets in. Our family set aside one night a week for family night, something we’ve continued to do with our son who is now in high school. It is sometimes simple – frozen pizza and card games; sometimes more elaborate – a nice dress-up dinner out or a trip to the theater to see a movie that we’ve all heard about. This has more of an impact than I realized it would. The first thing we do when my daughter is able to come home for a holiday or other school break is plan a family night out that she will enjoy while she is home. My kids still look forward to these nights.

Don’t let the busyness of senior year allow your student to neglect their faith.  Make sure they attend regular worship services and encourage them to stay involved in church activities. They will be tested and tried during college years, and having a strong foundation in their faith will help them make right decisions.  They will learn to trust God as a friend who is there to help them when mom and dad are not. It is also important that you continue emphasizing to your senior the importance of Kingdom service. This lesson is one with life-long benefits and there will be plenty of service opportunities available to your child while at college.

Be joyful and have fun with your senior these next few months. Turn tasks such as shopping for dorm room supplies into fun outings. Laugh lots. Give lots of hugs. Share memories and childhood stories together. Let them know how special and unique you think they are; share with them the special qualities you feel God has blessed them with. Give them lots of opportunities to talk with you about their hopes and dreams. Trust them in their decisions and encourage them even if it is not what you envisioned for them or hoped they would do. Be there to pick them up when something doesn’t work out as they had planned. Keep your family close; siblings need to be encouraged as they are concerned about their brother or sister going away next year, too. Keep a smile on your face as that’s the way you want them to remember you when they are away next year.  Laugh some more.

Most importantly, tell them often how much you love them. 

Susan Thomas, mom of Carrie, PCA Class of 2007 and Will, PCA Class of 2011