When I worked at YMCA Storer Camps as a summer camp employee, we would often get children telling us that they would LOVE to live at the camp and thought it was really cool that us workers did indeed have our own cabins and did live there full time. We would intently listen to the kids gush about how much they loved us and how much they would love to be here 24/7 and we would kindly respond “how can we miss you if you NEVER go away?”
That phrase would often bring confused smiles to their faces. The smarter ones knew that it was a brush off, but it does ring true. Sometimes the everyday becomes mundane and predictable. And you go through life on auto-pilot it takes a little change to shake things up. That happened to us this week as both kids were dispatched to the grandparents (one to each set) after Easter. Tod is on break this week and we wanted some time to get some of the projects that we put on hold when Eli came to live with us done.
We have been busy this week and not having to worry about the kids is a blessing. But it is deathly quiet here and I don’t like it. The house seems empty and has remained relatively clean. We pick the kids up tomorrow and I can’t wait. I talked with Anna on the phone the other day and she was very intent on sharing all the details about her time in Ohio with my parents. I found myself missing her wit and charm and wanted to hear more and more about her time away. We used Skype to chat with Eli at Tod’s parents, a definite plus for him, as he is very visual. He wasn’t responding to our greetings, but was rather intently watching to see who those faces were in the computer.
I asked him the million dollar question: what does a bear say? And he dutifully responded “Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!” It was that connection that made me choke up and realize how much I missed them both. Sure the house is clean and I have been able to sleep in, it takes me back 4 and a half years to when Tod and I were on our own with just Oscar and Lola to worry about. It’s nice to reconnect with Tod, but it will be even nicer to see my girl and pick her up at the fabulous Toledo Museum of Art tomorrow when we head down with my art history class. We will then head over to meet Mr. Eli in Battle Creek and we will once again be together as a family.
I can’t wait.
I've read many of your blogs, but this one is my favorite by far. This one is very touching and shows just how lucky Eli and Anna are to have such amazing, creative, and fun parents.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty timely. I just went a full 24hrs without seeing my little ones and I was sad. I didn't think I would be but when you have 3 there's never a time when you are without at least 1 of them. So to not see any of them wasn't as "liberating" as it looks on paper.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how you feel. When my girl was younger, I always tried to keep busy doing household projects that I wouldn't have had the time to do when she was around. Of course, now she's a teenager and I really like when she's having a sleepover or away at camp. I still miss her, but it's such a relief to be able to doze off at 8 p.m. without her saying that she has the oldest, most boring parents in the world! =)
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