Man, were we stupid

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I got a wild hair this past week to find some throw back pictures. Which took me to my scrapbooks from high school and my bulging senior book (thanks mom for sending that). I was having a fun time texting a high school friend some pictures from back in the day. One of which was this little gem from senior year. In Texas you make or order a mum with your name and your date’s name on it (ever see Hope Floats? Just like that). The bigger the better (as is everything in Texas). This friend and I were in drill team, and for some odd reason, the booster club thought we needed a drill team (dance team) one, too, so we were heavily weighted down!

mums in texas
As I was flipping the pages and taking yet another trip down memory lane, I came across another picture that stopped me dead in my tracks. Sure, they look like they are having fun (yes, that’s Mr. Serious in high school), and being silly, but in hindsight (like almost 15 year hind sight?) incredibly stupid. Dumb. Idiots. All of us (I was taking the picture after all).

post columbine bomb threat
This was us outside of school after a couple hours. We were outside because this was a couple days post-Columbine and our school had a bomb threat called in. Everybody took them seriously so we were evacuated. I distinctly remember how frantic all of the adults were. Crying. Yelling. Screaming at us to get out of the school. We totally didn’t get it. We thought it was a joke.

And, I remember when they finally gave us the all clear to leave school without penalty (for skipping or truancy) and we went to Mr. Serious’ house just up the road. Remember back in the day before cell phones? We couldn’t call our parents to let them know what happened. We couldn’t call the news to alert them that we were okay. So when we got to the house, his mom (now- MIL) ran down the stairs crying and giving us HUGE hugs saying how glad she was that we were home and okay. We were stupid. We shrugged it off. Nothing would happen to us at school. It was totally a safe place for us, right? We really, really didn’t get it.

Now? I totally get it. It took me being a mom and seeing a horrible tragedy play out with so many children and their parents for me to get it. Now? I worry every day when I send my kids to school. Heck, I worry every day. Period. As parents we worry about everything (well, maybe as moms). Sending our kids out into the world shouldn’t be one of those times but it is.

smart kiddo   smart kiddo   smart kiddo
I don’t know how I will instill this in my kids. I’m sure I will never be successful at letting them know just how much they mean to me and how much worry and fear that I have for them. It will probably take until they are parents themselves to fully see how much we love them. How much they mean to us. And how scary every new thing is. And how much faith we put in them, everybody else and God!

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21 Comments

  1. I know right. I went to very small school in a small town where we all brought guns to school in the gun racks in our trucks. Ok not literally but we could have. Of course that was over 20 years ago. It was a different life. Now my kids know where to hide in their classrooms and that bad people do really bad things for attention. It is frightening….

    1. It really is a different world. But, my grandma emailed me some perspective. They worried about things like being bombed and running out of toilet paper. It’s always something, isn’t it?

  2. Sometimes I sit and reminisce on those old pictures and how I use to be then I think of the kids growing up in today’s world and think it’s so different but I know my mom probably said the same thing when she was young.

    1. Exactly, my grandma emailed me the things they used to worry about.

    1. Love that you brought it back to “takes one to know one!”

  3. grandma pat says:

    It is very sad to know your kids will grow up knowing the possibility of those terrible tragedies happening at their school. There are way too many scary people in this world.

  4. Being a parent is hard!!! You never know what that worry is like until you are a parent yourself!

  5. Yep. Kids just don’t get it. Amazing the clarity that comes with age. Sometimes I just wish we could go back to being innocent (or dumb).
    Is that Stephanie with you in that first pic? I used to read her blog. I didn’t know you two were friends. What ever happened to her blog? I think she just stopped posting. Does she still blog? Anyway, it is fun taking a trip down memory lane.
    And those pics of your girls are adorable!!!!

    1. I wish we could, too. It was so much easier then!

      And, yes that’s Stephanie. We went to HS together (and I went to JH/MS with her hubby!). She says she’s too busy with work to blog these days!

      Thank you!

  6. You are brave, Krystyn! I cannot bear to look at my old high school pictures. Such awkward times and memories. lol I didn’t know that Mr. Serious was your high school sweetheart, too. That is so sweet! I agree about worrying about the kids. The world is a very scary place to raise children in. Unfortunately, we can’t keep them in a little bubble. It’s best to teach them how to protect themselves, but that’s really all that you can do. Happy Wednesday!

    1. Eh. Brave? Probably not.

      Yep, we’ve been together for quite some time! Since 1998….so 15 years. Wow.

      Sometimes, I wish for the bubble. It’s not practical, but I do.

  7. Yes I don’t think any child will realize the love their parents have for them until they are either older or have children of their own. Hopefully they won’t have to worry about as many things as we have to now when they have their babies. I pray the world gets better instead of worse

    1. I think you have to have kids to realize it. Not even being an adult let me “get it!”

      It will just be something different to worry about.

  8. Amen! Being a parent is never ending worry. I, like you, just hope they always feel loved by us and know how much they mean to us!

    1. It really is..and it’s one of those things that nobody tells you! Well, I tell people “you’ll worry for the rest of your life!”

  9. those are some HUGE mums!!

    love those three sweet faces!

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