Life lately. After the roller coaster that was getting both boys off to school, and starting E’s school year, and figuring out a whole new routine, it feels like we’ve finally settled into things a bit.

The last week or so has been one of those times that I wish I could just hit the pause button and enjoy for a while.

E has been getting a lot more comfortable behind the wheel. I really enjoy this part of the whole permit experience. She’s competent enough and I’ve stopped making “that noise” every few seconds, and we’ve started to be able to have conversations while she’s driving.

Any parent who has been through the whole driver’s ed thing knows that this is the sweet spot for talking to your kids. Unfortunately, it also means I already know how much I will miss it once that license is in her wallet.

G has been balancing college life with his passion for hunting and managed to sneak home for a few weekends to get in the tree stand and get the dogs out in the field. Luckily, his crew team experience has him well conditioned for early morning wakeups, so getting out the door on time hasn’t been an issue.

He usually comes home midday and takes one of the dogs out to hunt pheasant. Dunc caught on to this routine early, and he knows when G gets home that good things are about to happen, and it’s hilarious to watch him follow G everywhere, expectantly, like “Are we going now? How about how? Now? Is now good?”

A is gearing up for a semester abroad in Ireland. He may or may not have picked that based on the drinking songs he sang with his father when he was younger, but whatever the reason, I’m thrilled that he’s making this happen for himself. Slightly less thrilled that instead of a few states and a long car ride, I’m going to have an ocean and a long plane ride between us, but the semester will fly by for him, I’m sure.

I’m also wondering how the kid who packs my SUV to the breaking point is going to survive for five months on two suitcases, but that’s, as they say, a “him” problem.

And what about me? What have I been up to? Well, it’s becoming obvious that I’m in the spectator era of my life. More and more of E’s plans involve getting picked up by friends, and if I’m lucky, I get a report out later.

Ferrying G back and forth has given us a window of catch-up time, and he surprises me with how chatty he can be. Then I remember that he’s a lot like his dad, when he’s interested in something, he can’t shut up about it. Hearing his enthusiasm for his classes and activities makes me just a tiny bit sad that I can’t be there to see him loving life, but I know that this is his time and I have to be satisfied with the report outs that I do get.

A few days ago, G texted me that it appears that he and his friends have had their housing request for next year approved, hopefully an apartment. A few minutes later, he followed up with a text asking if he should register for the same meal plan. When I asked him if the apartment had a kitchen, he said, “yes, but I wasn’t planning on using it.” While part of me was laughing because that’s the most G response ever, another part of me was just a little sad because the first few rounds of him doing laundry necessitated a lot of communication. Having to help him find his way around the kitchen next year would have meant a few more reasons to hear from him.

I’ve been trying to let A handle all his travel arrangements himself. Of course, I’m slightly terrified that he’s going to get out of the country just fine; it will be the getting back in that’s a problem if he doesn’t have his paperwork in order. It’s helpful to my cause that I don’t really know that much more about international travel than he does, so I don’t have much to offer in the way of help.

Trying to always be here if they need me and letting them be the ones decide when and if that is is tough, but necessary. It’s also slightly gratifying to see that they are pretty competent when left to their own devices, but even more gratifying when they call to say, “mission accomplished,” or “can I just get you to look over this for me?” I may be stuck on the sidelines, but the field show is pretty darn entertaining.

Liz Pinkey’s column appears on Saturdays in the Times News