It Takes a Village
Dear Cousin,
Do you remember those summers when my mom would let me spend a whole week with you at your house? One year it was a whole month. Those were some fun times! We played in the pool, we rode the horses, we ate tons of Popsicles ...
I never wondered about it before, I just enjoyed it! Now that I am a mom, I wonder if she did it to have some time off .... Oh, I know she had plenty to do - especially in the summer; what I mean is time off ... from me.
I love my kids, I love having them home (I wouldn't have homeschooled if I didn't!) But yesterday my older 3 were at school and my younger two were invited to go to Portland with a neighbor for the whole day. Suddenly my day looked different. Instead of driving from store to store with 2 children who would need snacks, drinks, bathroom stops, refereeing and other attention, I would be driving from store to store by myself. I could stop anywhere and anytime I wanted to. The feeling of freedom was enticing.
And then I got a phone call that a friend needed help with her little ones, and they are much younger than mine, so I could easily imagine and sympathize with how she was doing that morning. So I offered to take one along with me to run my errands - and I got lucky - I got the baby! She is such a cute 6 month old and we had a great time driving all over town. She slept most of the time; and when she was awake she was happy. When we finally made it back to my house we had about 45 minutes of playtime and cuteness overload.
I thoroughly enjoyed having the baby with me. And I also enjoyed having baby's mom come pick her up when it was time. My kids weren't home yet, so I was able to get some other work done also. Maybe it was a brief glance into what being a grandma is going to be like. Not that I need to be one of those any time soon!
Do you remember those summers when my mom would let me spend a whole week with you at your house? One year it was a whole month. Those were some fun times! We played in the pool, we rode the horses, we ate tons of Popsicles ...
I never wondered about it before, I just enjoyed it! Now that I am a mom, I wonder if she did it to have some time off .... Oh, I know she had plenty to do - especially in the summer; what I mean is time off ... from me.
I love my kids, I love having them home (I wouldn't have homeschooled if I didn't!) But yesterday my older 3 were at school and my younger two were invited to go to Portland with a neighbor for the whole day. Suddenly my day looked different. Instead of driving from store to store with 2 children who would need snacks, drinks, bathroom stops, refereeing and other attention, I would be driving from store to store by myself. I could stop anywhere and anytime I wanted to. The feeling of freedom was enticing.
And then I got a phone call that a friend needed help with her little ones, and they are much younger than mine, so I could easily imagine and sympathize with how she was doing that morning. So I offered to take one along with me to run my errands - and I got lucky - I got the baby! She is such a cute 6 month old and we had a great time driving all over town. She slept most of the time; and when she was awake she was happy. When we finally made it back to my house we had about 45 minutes of playtime and cuteness overload.
I thoroughly enjoyed having the baby with me. And I also enjoyed having baby's mom come pick her up when it was time. My kids weren't home yet, so I was able to get some other work done also. Maybe it was a brief glance into what being a grandma is going to be like. Not that I need to be one of those any time soon!
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