Somehow, when I wasn’t looking, both of my kids grew up. Like, what even is that? One minute, I’m stepping on Legos and cutting sandwiches into fun shapes, and the next, Ivy’s little brother, Zander, is casually reminding me that his childhood is officially over. The night before he turned 18, he actually said, “Take a good look at me because this is the last night of my childhood.” Excuse me?! I was not emotionally prepared.  I mean, it was hard enough when I did this with Ivy, but now it’s her little brother too!  It’s not fair.  They were little like, two days ago, right?  It’s the kind of moment that will drive a girl into a corner, crying and sucking her thumb.

Of course, that didn’t stop me from celebrating him in full force. I made a birthday cake with an edible image of his favorite band (because I’m that mom), took the day off, and gave him a new laptop for college. Ivy fulfilled her role as best big sister EVAH and spoiled the heck out of him with tons of gifts.  Then, we  hit the movies, bowled, played laser tag, and battled it out in the arcade like we weren’t all in a deep state of denial. Then we wrapped up the night with cake, a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday, the yummy chocolate cake I mentioned earlier and me having an existential crisis.

Somehow I became the mother of two adult children, which is insane.  Of course they’re two AMAZING adult children and I’m stupid proud of them.  But yeah, if you need me, I’ll be in the corner, crying and sucking my thumb.