COMMENTARY: High school a whole different ballgame these days

Milestones are hard on parents, especially - and I'm going out on a limb here - for moms. The pressure is felt right away. Everything is measured.

How much milk are they drinking? How long do they sleep in between waking to be fed?

When do they sit up, roll over, take their first step? Their first day of kindergarten is frightening. How will someone else know how to take care of my baby all day, and keep him ("him" because I'm a proud boy mom) safe, we ask ourselves. We worry until his school day ends. We find out he had the "best time" and loved every minute of school.

In the end, it's bittersweet.

It all is, really.

My eldest has nearly made it all the way through middle school, which was nerve-wracking (to me, not him) at first.

He's already being welcomed to high school. Last month we attended a school resource fair and parent meeting to learn about all the offerings. We had to fill out a schedule by the middle of February. And on top of all that, he started weight training for football.

It seems it's all coming at me at once. Yes, me. Not him.

He's good. Not sweating it.

"Settle down, Mom," he says (multiple times), while looking at me, bewildered.

It's not like I am a newbie when it comes to stress. I'm swimming in it. But this? This is another level. The amount of anxiety I feel is extraordinary. There are just so many choices. The week before I began high school, we attended a quick orientation where we received our schedules and then we were on our way.

Not in 2023. Not even close. There are multiple ways to graduate and choices even in the basics: algebra, math, English, some with or without lab, some advanced; three different Core 40 diplomas; service or work project requirements; career and technical education (CTE) classes; Pathways; and tons of electives (in high school?!?). These days students can even earn college credit while still in high school! I know that's not news to a lot of Millennials, but to this Gen X mom, it's crazy cool.

What does it all mean? How will we know we're on the right track and stay on that track? And does there really have to be a track?

I went looking for answers and stumbled upon a 108-page curriculum guide. I shouldn't need to tell you my blood pressure went through the roof at that point.

Luckily I was able to get in touch with the counselor assigned to him. (There are lots of counselors, also something very different than this small-town Illinois girl experienced where there was one, for the whole school.)

She was amazing, knowledgeable, explained things while somehow comforting me and also - and this is important - admitted she too has an incoming freshman and understands how overwhelming it is.

But, it's also exciting. I have to admit my experience as a student had a lot to do with living in a small town. While that's not always a bad thing, it was particularly bad for me. I have been looking forward to my child's high school career knowing it will be vastly different from mine. The opportunities are extensive. The options seem limitless. The size of the Terre Haute South class of 2027? Well, let's just say it's astronomical if you compare it to my class of 1997.

The best part is I get to see where these opportunities take him, and he has four years until we get to the next milestone. Four years until he grows from a 14-year-old finding his way to a man heading off to college. Four years is a lot of time. And then it isn't.

Like I said, it's always bittersweet.

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