All about an 18 year old teenage boy. Teen life for a boy and a typical daily schedule and life who was raised on Babywise.
This is a summary for Brayden from 17.75-18 years old. This will be Brayden’s last summary. He is now graduated and 18! I am sure I will share updates on social media and also in my weekly emails. So if you aren’t, be sure to follow me on Instagram and/or sign up for my weekly emails.
Post Contents
MISSION CALL
Brayden has a really big life event coming up. He will be serving a two year mission for our church. He is headed to Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). He leaves at the end of June.
We have been busy getting all of his appointments in, his vaccinations done, and items he needs purchased. We have also needed to complete a lot of tasks so he could get a Visa.
It will be a huge change in our lives. Brayden is an incredible person and brings so much to our home. We will all miss him greatly, but we are so happy for him to serve the Lord.
He got his call in the beginning of March, so we have had a lot of time to plan and prepare for it.
We will be able to talk to him each week, but we will not see him in person for two years.
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
Brayden is now a high school graduate! It was a lot thinking about graduation and his mission at the same time.
Graduation definitely took a backseat in the priority list for me. Preparing my son to live in Africa for two years is a bigger priority.
But with that said, graduating from high school is a huge deal and we wanted it to be special.
As your own child approaches graduation, I would recommend you talk to parents who have had kids graduate recently to find out what is common in your school for graduation.
Things are definitely different than when I graduated. Several people decorated the top of their caps and many had candy leis, money leis, or even real flower leis.
Not everyone had those things, and not even the majority did, but many did. It is good to know what is going on so you can decide if that is for your family and graduate.
Brayden was able to graduate as a Valedictorian with a 4.0 throughout high school (the best you can do here) and with many other honors. He was also named the Business and Marketing Department student of the year.
We had family over after graduation for one of his favorite meals (Chicken Salad on croissants).
I thought a lot about what Brayden’s graduation gift from us would be. I wanted something sustainable through all of my four kids. With your oldest, you set a precedent.
I decided on a book from Shutterfly with photos from his life from birth through graduation.
It was too big for one book, so I was able to give him one from birth to 2019. Now that graduation is over, I can finish up a second book. So he will have two books. A nice thing about the two books is that he had something to open, but he can also add his own photos to the second book without me having to give it away.
I also had each grandparent, sibling, and parent write him a letter. He really liked that.
Later that night, Brayden went to the senior graduate party and then to a friend’s house after that.
It was a fun day. He is really excited to have graduated.
Pro-tip for moms–I had a big cry the day before graduation. I am not a person who cries a lot, but I let it all out the day before.
That made it so the day of, I could just be excited for him and excited with him. So if you can, find a moment to let it all out the day before so the day of can just be a celebration.
For the robes, I imagine most schools use some place like Jostens for graduation robes. I used a steamer on Brayden’s robes and had to go over it 3 times. It still wasn’t perfect. I hear an iron is similar. So give yourself time to get the wrinkles out!
SEMINARY GRADUATION
Brayden also graduated from Seminary. The students are able to choose to attend seminary each day during the school day where they have deeper learning about the gospel.
COLLEGE
You may be wondering what happens with college with the mission. He is able to defer the start of his program and all of his scholarships for two years. So he will actually be starting college for the first time the same year that Kaitlyn will! It is pretty crazy.
PIANO
A great thing about the piano teacher our kids go to is that he asks his students what their goals are for playing the piano. There are a lot of different things you can aim for, and my kids all have different end-goals.
For Brayden, it has been that he will be good enough that he can sit down and play any song.
This spring, he had a guitar concert where he played many songs on piano I had never heard him play at home. He also accompanied a friend at seminary graduation. I only heard him play it a few times at home, including his time practicing with her.
It is fun to see him at his goal.
He does want to continue piano lessons once he gets back from his mission and starts college.
TRACK
Brayden had track this spring. It was crazy this year because we had constant snow throughout April and the snow didn’t melt from winter until the end of April. He had fun with the track team. It is a fun sport for kids to do in high school.
GALVESTON TRIP
We decided last minute to take a trip to Galveston, Texas over spring break. We needed to get away from the snow. Brayden also had never been to Texas but entertains the idea of settling down there someday. He likes the tax laws there (because what teenager doesn’t consider tax laws when deciding where to live?).
Who knows where life will take him, but I felt like he should get a small taste of a place before moving there.
LOOKING BACK
As Brayden graduates from high school at turns 18 years old, I naturally look back. I am sure many people wonder if I would choose to do Babywise with him if I had it all to do again.
YES!
Yes I absolutely would. There are so many benefits, from learning self-control, to gaining healthy sleep habits (and all of the physical and mental benefits that come from that), to following structure and routine.
Knowing what I know now, if I went back to that first day we started Babywise, I would have done it all again.
SCHEDULE
7 AM–Wake up. Get ready for school.
7:30 AM-Leave for school.
3:00 PM-Get home from school. Maybe.
5 PM–Dinner time.
Bed at some point.
RELATED POSTS
Congrats to Brayden! Wishing him so much success in his mission and beyond. I have followed your blog for many years now, and although I don’t check in frequently (now that my kids are much older) it was fun to see all of the growth that Brayden and your other kids have had.
My oldest two are juniors this year. I’ll be sad when they leave as well. They give so much balance and peace to our home.
All the best,
Sarah
Thank you for your sweet message! It is such a strange thing to have your oldest kids old enough to be moving out!