05/22/2026
Seniors are my jam. This next generation of humans we have molded, cried, prayed, swore and loved over are full of magic. I enjoy talking to them, encouraging them, hearing about their next steps. These children of ours will create a world that we can't even fathom.
In light of graduation week, I want to tell my dudes' story because their school certainly won't. They don't even post about the other option any more. Which is a shame in so many ways.
My boys graduated from the alternative school.
You know the one. The school that gets sideways looks. The whispers. The assumption that it's where the trouble makers go. The castoffs. The troubled ones. The kids who can't sit still, can't fit the mold, can't survive the 7-3 classroom. The ones with a home life that affects how they function. The ones COVID knocked sideways and changed their trajectories. The ones that traditional school was slowly suffocating.
My boys were those kids.
And people had opinions. Plenty of them. Those people are a-holes and were wrong. But here we are.
Here's where my dudes are now.
My oldest is a year-ish ahead of schedule in a four year apprenticeship. He puts in the hours every day for the life he's wanted. He bought his dream truck before he was 21. He has a significant other he adores. They are building their life together in their early 20s. He's further ahead than most 40+ year olds in life and doing what he has always wanted to do.
My youngest walked into basic training, earned Squad Leader, then APG and promoted to First Class Private before it was all said and done. An honor fewer than 10% of recruits earn. He has a plan, a wife he adores and a future he is already building with intention and fire. Our very own Captain American and GI Joe all rolled into one.
These two didn't struggle to fit the box because something was wrong with them. They struggled because they were too big for it.
Some kids are not built for Algebra 3, busy work and sitting quietly while the clock ticks. Some kids have a different kind of fire. The kind that needs room to burn. The kind that doesn't show up on a report card but shows up in everything else, in every hard thing that they do, in every goal they set for themselves. In every way they figure out who they are and what they want from life.
These kids need someone in their corner who refuses to let the world's definition of success become the ceiling on their potential. Even if it is a bumpy ride for us as parents to temper that burning fire until the time is right.
The world needs the kids who don't fit in the box. It always has. I'll be in your kids corner standing right behind you, rooting for them just as much. They deserve it and you are not alone if your kid doesn't fit in the traditional ideal. It's ok to be different. They find their path. I promise.
Happy graduation to your babies. You all have earned it.
xoxo
