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The photo is of Number One Son as he prepares to drive off for his “last first day” of public high school. He’s a member of the mighty 2007 senior class at Virgil I. Grissom High School<\/a>, and he sure is exuding the confidence that flows from such a lofty station in life. Another reason he’s smiling is that he’s just glad his hair finally grew back<\/a> in time for his senior portrait.<\/p>\n Number One and his brothers are Gen Nexters or Millennials<\/a>, a generation that has been receiving a lot of attention lately in the media. For some, this generation reminds them of “The Greatest Generation”<\/a> which came of age during World War II. They are trending more and more, according to experts, toward traditional values such as patriotism and respect for authority, perhaps fueled to a great degree by their eyewitnessing of the events of 9\/11.<\/p>\n However, according to this USA Today article<\/a>, this generation can also become very stressed as they try to manage the uber-expectations and demands of their parents and peers. We see a lot of this where we are in our hypercompetitive Huntsville–more this, more that, mix it all together and you have an instant success. Perhaps, but at what cost?<\/p>\n We’ve always tried to encourage our boys to stay busy and develop their talents but at the same time recognize the need to allow them to be children and enjoy their lives. Sometimes we’ve succeeded at this, and sometimes we’ve failed. They’re all starting to get old enough now that they let us know in no uncertain terms when “enough is enough.”<\/p>\n In Number One’s Case, it has involved the very mature decision on his part to give up club soccer his senior year and play rec instead, thereby recovering about 10-12 hours per week. He also pared down his list of colleges to apply to over the summer to a very manageable three (Harding<\/a>, Alabama<\/a> and Davidson<\/a>) and has already been accepted at two of them. He’s taking several A.P. courses, but not the maximum he could. He’s using some of the extra time to enjoy his new passion of Ultimate Frisbee<\/a>, hang out with friends from church and school, and generally relish the “glory days” before they’ve passed him by completely. All in all, pretty mature moves from a seventeen-year-old.<\/p>\n