Oof! What Happened?

I remember when my eldest was starting kindergarten, and the crazed preparations leading up to the Big Day. Did we have the appropriate lunchbox and a water bottle that wouldn't crack? What about his backpack? Did we have a rain jacket? His raincoat, lunchbox, and backpack matched: all featured Batman. How many pairs of socks: a few pairs, or one pair for every day of the week? Were said socks the correct shade of navy? Undies, oh God, we needed undies! Where was that shopping list, so 'textile marker pen' could be added, with a view to writing his name on every item of school uniform he owned? Okay, we will pack him a ham sandwich, an apple, some carrot sticks, and a piece of fruitcake for his first day. His dad's face split into a broad grin when he beheld our eldest that first day, all dressed up in school uniform complete with regulation navy bucket hat.

Then came the day we drove him to his first day in high school. Had we packed enough food (the kid had a voracious appetite)? Did he REALLY need all the books from the $50.00 book pack we had purchased at the school canteen - he was running the risk of becoming crippled! Did he have his new geometry set, ruler, and calculator? Was he really going to keep that cap on his head, or would it be relegated to his backpack the minute he walked through the gates (it was the latter)?

Stressful times, but it just gets more harrying as the kid gets older. Today the three us: kid, his dad, and I spent ages finalising enrolment into his planned degree at university. It turns out he won't be on the campus originally indicated, but in the long run, that's an advantage. Every window on the website revealed a link to be clicked, leading to another window with further information that was making our collective heads swim. I actually joined the research a bit later than the other two, having worked this morning, and I just stared in disbelief at the plethora of open windows indicated by the tool bar. The last time I saw that many open windows was when Smelly Kennedy farted on the school bus (the nickname was no misnomer, trust me). Speaking of windows, my youngest thought it would be amusing to add sound effects to the computer, so every time a window was closed there would be an 'oof' grunting sound. This became apparent when my husband started to click a few windows closed: 'Oof! Oof! Oof!' This only added to our flustered state of being, and my youngest was on the lounge smirking like Scott Morrison.

The patriarch of our household went outside for a well-earned break from the stress, and my eldest and I continued the aggravating process, which was punctuated by the occasional 'oof!'. Unable to bear any more of the infernal oofs, the university student yelled to his brother, 'You are a terrible person!'

But it's done. I can even have a rueful chuckle about the oofs now. We are just waiting to hear back about the timetable finalisation, and the application for accommodation. But the nightmare and stress of planning this new adventure have been real. There must surely be less involved with invading another country, than the enrolment into university.