I'm having a hard time because my little baby got his first summer job...

[NNadir]

...and it's in Europe.

And the thing is that, sniff, he isn't a little baby any more, he's a man.

He'll be gone until August working under an NSF grant in France.

I'm proud of him of course, that he was selected for this job, but I miss him terribly already and he's only been gone for 24 hours.

It seems like only last evening he was eight years old and I was explaining the Fibonacci numbers to him, and now...and now...he's already over my head in so many places.

He called me this morning from Madrid, deliciously tolerant of my hover parenting but also being sure to let me know that he's a man, not a child.

He's a man...

Life moves so fast.

[drray23]

1. congratulations to him that he was selected for this job

I think its great that he gets to work abroad in Europe. Madrid is especially lovely. I wish every young american would get that opportunity. It would open their eyes to what else is out there and maybe effect political changes here in the united states.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. How wonderful! What a great experience. Where in France will he be working?

[Tanuki]

3. What a wonderful opportunity for him!

He will have adventures that he will treasure for the rest of his life. And he is only a phone call or text message away.

[NNadir]

6. Yes, of course you're right.

He'll be doing some fabulous science as well; I'm certainly having a lot of vicarious excitement about that part.

We've been going through papers of the French scientist under whom he'll be working; the guy is top notch, and he's covering an area of science about which I personally knew very little until now, a rich area of inorganic chemistry to which I was pleased to be inspired to see.

This will also help him to keep up with his French; he won the high school French award for being the top student, but I was worried it would go away if he didn't use it.

Now I know it won't.

All around it's a big win for him, a wonderful start to an education that will lead to a great career I hope...

...but still I'll miss him. He's been away at college this year of course, but his university is not all that far from where we live and I've been up to see his choir performances, parent's weekends, that sort of thing.

France, by contrast, is a bit than a two hour drive away.

I'm thrilled for him, but I'll miss him.

I'll miss his dry humor, his kindness and yes, our scientific conversations.

Thank you for your kind words.

(I pray all is well with you.)

[Tanuki]

10. Reading the replies made me think of this song:

It is terrific that your son will have a chance to solidify his language skills by immersion while gaining valuable research experience this summer. It is understandably bittersweet to launch him into the big, wide world but it sounds as if you have equipped him exceptionally well.

[SummerSnow]

4. I know what you mean. It seems like yesterday you were changing

their diapers, giving them a bottle, remembering their first steps and first words. You blink and they are adults. Time goes by so fast.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Congratulations to him and hugs for you.

My youngest was accepted for a Fulbright scholarship to spend 10 months in Berlin after he'd been out of college for a year (he went to college in town). I'll never forget the day I took him to the airport. It really hit home that he was all grown up.

Of course I used the excuse to get two trips to Europe to visit him out of it!

Hope he has a marvelous experience. Hang in there! He'll be back in a couple of months.

[NNadir]

9. That's wonderful.

You must know very well how I feel, the mixture of pride and wistfulness.

[Fla Dem]

7. Yes, time does fly by in the blink of an eye. So cherish the now.

But in that regard, he'll be home with wonderful stories to tell you before you know it.

[NNadir]

8. That's good advice and definitely true.

The time will fly by faster than his childhood did, and his childhood went fast.

I'm really looking forward to the family sitting together and hearing his tales.