First Day of Classes

Well, it's the first day of classes here at [my college].

Some cruel and thoughtless person sent me this link, and I was stupid enough to read it, even though he said it made him cry every time he read it:

All Legs and Curiosity

I've got a baby heading off to college next year.  So I get it. 

I've been thinking about it for seven years now, actually--right after Theo was born, and I realized, "He'll be home for ten years after his big brother goes to college.  How will he manage without his big brother around?  For ten years???"

But, anyway, I get it, Moms and Dads.  I get that my students are your babies.

I don't promise to love them as much as you do.

I certainly won't be keeping up with whether or not they wear socks, although I might chastise them for using tobacco or apologizing too much or texting in class (and definitely for texting while driving).

But I promise to do right by them, and to try to help them become adults, and to want better for them than they want for themselves (and almost as good as you want for them).

And I promise always, always to remember that they're somebody else's babies.