How a mommy capstone project was born…

Celebrating graduation milestone Photo Credit – Susan Peterson

A Mommy Capstone Project was born as I saw these milestones heading my way.

Last week…

  • My eldest graduated from high school before heading off to college
  • The youngest finished middle school and eagerly left me for 6 weeks of camp.
  • My husband left for 7 weeks of training in his new career as a commercial airline pilot. He was a money manager for 30 years working from home for the last decade.
  • Our rising senior earned his driver’s license and started his first job. He is also focusing on his dream – to be a professional video game player (DOTA). Luckily, he’s still planning on college.
  • After 14 years, I no longer have a child attending our local public school.
  • Both of my parents were suddenly very frail.

“Enjoy this. These are the best days of your life.”

Flashing back, I grew up in Colorado ski racing. During evening practice we skied the singles lift line. The two-person ski lift was slow, affording great opportunities for conversations with strangers. “Enjoy this. These are the best days of your life,” working-aged men kept telling me. Many felt life’s responsibilities trapped them in their jobs. I found it sad. I resolved not to peak young, enjoy each phase of my life, and continue to embrace adventure.

Learn from the examples around you

In their post-kid years my parents furthered life-long interests. My dad fly fished, wood-worked and remarried while my mom became a Master Naturalist. In contrast, my Grandfather’s life passion was the company he built. I worked for him one summer long after he’d retired. He’d still go into the office, sit in his CEO suite and take a nap. They each lived the lives they wanted. My path will be my own, in part because I’m more extroverted.

Milestones lead to my mommy capstone project

As the kid-focused phase of my life started to wind down, I thought about what I wanted next. We were visiting colleges and discussing with friends what mattered in education. I keep hearing about the value of a senior capstone project to integrate the last few years of learning. Why should the young have all the fun? I decided to do a mommy capstone project and STEMshoots was born.

In today’s world we don’t need to be as trapped as those men felt on the long-ago ski lifts. We have more freedom to create side projects that interest us and explore. It is up to each of us to make that a blessing. These are the best days of our lives. Thanks for joining me on the adventure!

Photo credit goes to the wonderful Susan Peterson.

SaveSave

Cecile Seth

Trying to make our world better. Mom to 3. Recovering Management Consultant. MBA. STEMshoots.com Founder.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.