I can’t believe it... I’m officially getting old! My firstborn child has graduated High School!!! Whaaat??!?
I guess it’s one of those things, parenting is an ongoing learning journey. You learn to take care of a newborn and keep them alive all by yourself. That first night home from the hospital we were like, “Well? What do we do now?” But somehow you figure it out. Next up the preschool and junior school years and discipline and the start of homework and play dates (so glad that part is over).
And then on to high school... flirtations with boyfriends (thank the Lord my daughter doesn’t want a boyfriend until she’s travelled and done everything on her list!), more homework (or begging her to do her homework) until we eventually relented and said she could home school.
We weren’t actually so sure we were making the right decision, but as it turns out, it was the best decision. For her. This daughter of mine is headstrong and determined and has a good head on her shoulders and no doubt she will NOT be walked over. But she’s one of those kids that shines in the outside world and is a bit of a moody monster at home.
They say that it’s healthy for kids to be themselves and let loose at home, because they’ve been working hard to be obliging and harmonious out in the world. I guess we got that part right.
When we switched to homeschooling we decided on the GED option as a school leavers certificate. Luckily home schooling is accepted well in South Africa these days and Taylor thrived in making her time work for her. She’s been a diligent student and only asked for help when she really needed it.
This week we had booked 1 exam per day from Monday to Thursday which wasn’t completely necessary, but Taylor just wanted it all DONE. Monday was English and the waiting killed me! What’s awesome is that the results are back within about half an hour of finishing each exam, so you know if you passed or failed straight away. The pass mark is also 72.5% which is a decent pass. South African standards are quite a lot lower (shockingly around 33%).
Whoop! Passed English! I think she had Angels on her side because for the last 3 she jumped in the car saying it was hard and she wasn’t sure if she’d passed. But within a few minutes we all got to celebrate when her passing grades were uploaded. Utter relief!!!!
What’s awesome is that she’s got better results by studying at home online than what she was getting when she was in the regular school system! She’s jumped from Ds to consistent Bs! I don’t know if it’s the style of testing or the fact that she has less distraction from the class environment? But whatever it is, it worked in her favour. The fact that we had start homeschooling before the Pandemic and various lockdowns was also a blessing in disguise. I think we had a more consistent level of schooling than those trying to juggle classrooms and to do Classroom type school online.
We celebrated her final exam with a dinner out at the Waterfront in the City. It’s gorgeous and should be on your visitors list for Cape Town - I’ll do a proper post one day. But she wanted pasta from Primi Piatti and Marcels frozen yoghurt for dessert! So that’s what we did.
The Waterfront is my husbands idea of a nightmare so he had to suck it up for Taylor. She had a lovely evening and after dinner did some window shopping as we walked past the boutiques. I’m always quite inspired by the creativity of some of the windows - especially Louis Vuitton!! Wow!! So clever.
But the best was The Lot! Taylor took advantage of their signage and ignored the poor shop assistant that probably has this happen every day! Well if you’re going to have a cute shop then you better be ready for girls to take selfie’s.
Then Marcels Frozen yoghurt and a quick run to my husband waiting for us in the car out front.
I’ve always had a lot of encouragement growing up and Taylor and my dad have a very special relationship with hours spent chatting. So it was no surprise when my dad commented on her graduation dinner post!
We are very blessed! Now to start navigating this next season of parenting a teen that’s done with school. She’s ready to fly the coop, but hopefully she will hang around at least 1 more year. Our house would feel very quiet and empty without her and I’m just not ready.
The world is her oyster and she’s ready to take it by storm!
All photos my own
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