It occurred to me when my son came home after his first semester at Texas A&M University, that I had raised a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky, selfless person who was destined to make a go of it in the engineering department.  You might ask me how I knew this…  his laundry.

There is a lot you can determine from the condition of that first take-home laundry.  Is it neat, disheveled, really smelly or is it suspiciously too clean? Is it in a take-out bag, in a laundry basket, a pail, a plastic garbage bag, or is it just strewn all over the back of a truck?  Is he doing the laundry, am I doing the laundry?  There were so many unanswered questions.

And, there seemed to be a dirty t-shirt that advertised everything;  the department he studied in, the year of graduation, the maroone-mandatory university shirt, the freshman “fish” one, and, not to be left behind, the “I donated blood” t-shirt.  WOW.  The last one took me awhile to digest.  Is it possible that I could have raised a child that would donate his time and blood for someone in need?  I knew I had done my best, but hey, this was a confirmation of a mother’s best intentions.  I had a whole new perspective on how my child had assimilated into society. 

Semester two came around, and no new t-shirts.  Surely, there must be blood donations every semester.  But, being the “child defender mom” that I am always accused of being, I assumed he was so preoccupied studying for a test, or working on a lab, or reading in the library, that he just could not take the time to pursue his altruistic goal of saving the world, one pint at a time.

Being the involved parent that I am, I decided to ask.  Imagine my surprise when the answer came back. ”The opportunity to donate blood did present itself, but, honestly mom, the t-shirt wasn’t worth it.”  Huh?  And, being the glutton for punishment, I asked. “You mean you only donated blood because you liked the t-shirt?”  I closed my eyes and waited for the response.  “Of course!” was his response.

Knowing I put 18 long years of my life into this child, it was apparent that I had obviously missed a few lessons in giving back to the community. I wanted to crawl under the table and die.  This may not have been as embarassing, had the conversation not taken place in front of his grandparents!

All was not lost, however.  He did do his own laundry from then on and somewhere along the way he learned to finger press those t-shirts like a professional dry cleaners would.  Who knew??  To this day, he still wears the “Donorsaurus” t-shirt and I have to laugh everytime I see it. 

I learned the value of the perfectly branded t-shirt that day, a lesson not likely to be forgotten anytime soon.

P.S.  He did graduate, and is now an engineer with giving heart, and wonderful mind.

My Son Today

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