Today is my son’s first day of 4th grade. I can’t quite grasp that concept! It seems like just yesterday he was starting kindergarten and hiding behind the mail boxes when the bus came. Took nearly 10 minutes to coax him onto the bus! Now, I barely even get a wave goodbye as he hops on with his friends. That picture up there? I had to jump out of the car with my camera, sneak up on him, call his name and snap. Kind of like when you’re on safari, I imagine. He let me take a few posed pics at home, then told me to stay in the car at the bus stop. As it is, he’s the only 4th grader who still has his mom drive him. All the other kids walk. His walk would entail a very dangerous curve, though, and I’d rather embarrass him than see him get hit by a car.

Speaking of embarrassing him, when did I become so uncool? Tell me, does this LOOK like the face of an uncool mom?

I’m a punk rock girl! I listen to good music, stand up for freedom of speech and, well, I think I’m pretty cool! I was even willing to test the boundaries of the wording of the dress code so my son could be free to express himself and not look like a good little robot.  I’m all “Fight the Power!” My son? “Just get me the right clothes, I don’t want to get in trouble.” Thank freaking goodness for the Mom Central Zappos campaign for making it easy for me to get him the “right” clothes. Stay tuned next week for a new post on the great clothes he got from them, including his first day shirt.

Back to me being cool: look, my friends, I’m not hinting around that you should all comment on how I still rock. Nope, not hinting at all! In fact, I’ll come right out and say it: PLEASE TELL ME I’M STILL COOL!!

I also want to hear from you on the walking to the bus issue. Am I being over-protective? I am FAR from a helicopter mom. I let Jake play video games that most parents would cringe over (but NOT South Park or GTA, no matter how much he begs. Playing war is one thing, beating up hookers is another entirely). I don’t hover when he’s playing with his friends, and I don’t get involved in petty arguments between pals unless there is bloodshed (or outright bullying).

The ONE thing that I am very protective about is the walk to and from the bus stop. As I said, we have a sharp curve and idiots who think they’re on a race track. When I was his age, I walked home from school but it was in a whole different world. I mean that almost literally: I lived in a development miles from civilization and a very large, protective German Shepherd met me at my bus stop.

So what do you think? Am I being unreasonable? Overprotective? You can tell me the truth, as long as you also tell me I’m still cool.