Going Away and Coming Home
Last weekend my husband and I left our three kids with a
babysitter to attend a wedding of a friend in Florida. The weekend
passed in a blur--parties punctuated by short naps and frenzied showers
back at the hotel.
We did manage to get in a short run along a sunny beach-side path, but I felt our age in the toll those drinks took, the need for more sleep and the wish that time would slow and allow for just one more trip to the beach.
I don't often get breaks like this. If I'm not taking care of the kids, I'm writing something for a newspaper or magazine. If I'm not doing that, I'm working on my fiction. And if I'm not doing that, I'm cleaning the house. Those bed sheets won't change themselves...
The big revelation is that I happen to like my life this way: busy, full. Getting away from it all reminded me of that, and that I'm simply not the person who can spend an entire day lounging around, watching television or reading a book cover to cover. (I prefer to read deep into the night.)
One day I'll be a retired old lady in someplace warm like Florida or Hawaii, but for now, this is what it's all about: the mad-dash mornings; the juggling-act afternoons; chicken-nugget dinners and reading to the kids (currently the Ramona Quimby series) before goodnight kisses. Their sweet little faces in the dim light of a bedside lamp. A million worries and wishes as I fall asleep in my own bed.
These are just some random thoughts for a weekend seemingly wedged between a very persistent winter and spring.
We did manage to get in a short run along a sunny beach-side path, but I felt our age in the toll those drinks took, the need for more sleep and the wish that time would slow and allow for just one more trip to the beach.
I don't often get breaks like this. If I'm not taking care of the kids, I'm writing something for a newspaper or magazine. If I'm not doing that, I'm working on my fiction. And if I'm not doing that, I'm cleaning the house. Those bed sheets won't change themselves...
The big revelation is that I happen to like my life this way: busy, full. Getting away from it all reminded me of that, and that I'm simply not the person who can spend an entire day lounging around, watching television or reading a book cover to cover. (I prefer to read deep into the night.)
One day I'll be a retired old lady in someplace warm like Florida or Hawaii, but for now, this is what it's all about: the mad-dash mornings; the juggling-act afternoons; chicken-nugget dinners and reading to the kids (currently the Ramona Quimby series) before goodnight kisses. Their sweet little faces in the dim light of a bedside lamp. A million worries and wishes as I fall asleep in my own bed.
These are just some random thoughts for a weekend seemingly wedged between a very persistent winter and spring.
posted by Tatiana Boncompagni Hoover @ 6:23 AM
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