As I’m getting ready to drop off my second child at college, I started to reflect on my college career, and man, did I have a lot of fun. You really have to work hard to earn a 1.2 GPA, which I did my freshman year. Okay, not really “work hard” at all… but let’s just say, I had a lot of fun. On a serious (and sometimes funny) note, here are the life lessons I passed on to my kids:

I swore this year’s back-to-school would be different. I have three kids—one in high school, one in middle school, and one starting kindergarten, so I’ve done this a few times. I thought I would cry dropping off my last baby girl to kindergarten, but alas, no tears were to be had. Instead, I was full of frustration and exasperation. 

This fall, I’ll be moving our oldest daughter into a house with five of her friends for her junior year of college, dropping our son off at a dorm for his freshman year, and helping our youngest pick out her outfit for the first day of middle school.

I hate school spirit week. There I said it.

In a short month, Belle will be the same age I was when I lost my virginity. I’m scared shitless. I want so much more for her. I want her to be better than me, value herself better than I did, and, above all, know she is loved not only by me but by God.

 “No.” With that one word, my world falls apart. I start crying, uncontrollable sobs, barely able to catch my breath kind of crying. What the hell is happening to me? I went from feeling nothing to feeling complete miserable in one second. I want to go back to feeling nothing. The misery is too hard to bear. Then I hear snippets of the doctor’s and my husband’s conversation.  Come on now that’s funny, or cringe worthy. Probably both, and both are true at least for me

My biggest issue is what I call the comparison disease. I compare myself to everyone about everything, from money to looks. And now, it seems, I’m passing this disease along to my daughter.