COYOTE ARCHIVE

Dick Prosapio aka, Coyote is a member of the TMC Advisory Council, ceremonialist, psycho-
therapist (ret.), author, leader of men's experiential workshops, & Co-founder of The Foundation for Common Sense. He lives with his wife and daughter in Stanley, NM

For more info about Dick Prosapio, visit his web-site:
Spirit/ Earth Path
 

Five! Four! Three! Two! One
by
Dick Prosapio © 2007

Raising my second batch of kids began about fourteen years ago with wide open eyes, theirs and mine, pin worms (theirs) cries of "MOMMIE!" in the middle of the night (sometimes mine) as nightmares spread from one to the other, endless cat fights and fits..it all ended today with a drop off at the local Job Corps facility.

I never dreamed that three cute little girls could cause such a wide range of creative chaos as these, but none of them were short on imagination.

First there was the drug uproar with the oldest, then the emotional three act dramas, with curtain calls, with the youngest, complete with the "I-want-to-live-with-so and so's-family!" which inevitably lasted for two, maybe three days max.

And then the middle one who threatened the younger one with the butcher knife and thought that this was not an extraordinary thing to do.

And the stealing, and the lying, and the screaming, and the slamming of doors, and the (really horrible) sounds that each claimed to be "music" pounding through the paper mache' walls of our house.

and the car accidents, and engine blowing, and transmission failing, the flat tires, and the running out of gas, and the school ditching with the calls from the attendance office, and the teacher conferences, the must-attend-sometimes-hilarious (as in truly awful) school performances, the endless doctors visits for this and that.

.and the really bad lot of boyfriends, and the pets, and the..ah well, you already know about all of it anyway right?

Though I had heard of child raising that seemed idyllic from a couple or two now and then, I always wondered how in the hell they got that perfect kid lottery number?

Ah, but enough talking about the good ol' days, TODAY I dropped "the middle one" off at the Job Corps center where she will be fed, housed, clothed, and trained to make a living, and, it says right here in the brochure, in "six to eight months" she will be a functioning adult.

Well, closer to that than she has been so far at least.

Our other two are well on their way, both making good money at a great restaurant in Albuquerque and with solid plans to start a sure and steady climb up the ladder to a good life. Both of them, yes even the drama queen, have their heads screwed on really well, though we are shocked that the younger one "got it" so quickly. Being on her own and having to pay ALL her bills cured her of compulsive shopping faster than all the budget lectures I attempted.

Part of her realization of on-my-own was that she didn't have to tell anyone where she was going and when she would be home. Seemed liberating at first; then it dawned on her that nobody cared where she was going or what time she would be home.

It's called along-in-the-world.

The day I dropped off the last one would have been a celebratory time, but I spent most of it helping the eldest move into her new place and the youngest get her car repaired.

But then I went home.and it was QUIET!

I, we, were alone-in-the-world.and loving it.

LAUNCHED!