On this day last year, the kids were packing for their trip to Florida to spend the week with their grandparents while Chris and I would be busy preparing for a new school year. Instead of making the long journey by car to spend a few days with Chris’s parents and having the kids fly back on their own a week later, we went ahead and bought round-trip tickets for them this time. So simple.
The kids spent the week splashing in the pool and in the Gulf, playing with/tolerating their little cousins, and generally having an all-around good time. Chris and I had a pretty good time of it as well; we went out for happy hours, met friends for dinner, and took long evening walks. We had the freedom to work as late as we wanted, which can also be quite satisfying at times. Nevertheless, by mid-week, I was missing them and ready for them to come home.
Chris and I went out for an early dinner the evening of their return. This was probably the fourth time they had flown by themselves, and since they had become so wise and mature by then [insert eye roll], we just had them wait for us curbside. After dropping their bags and saying a quick hello to Sasha, we walked a few blocks to a friend’s house, who was hosting a little get together for Wakefield and about-to-be Wakefield Warriors and their parents (younger sibs were welcome, too). The teens chatted, ate, and laughed as they scrolled through posts on TikTok, and we parents talked about how crazy our schedules were about to become with another school year filled with music lessons, sports, drama productions, orchestra concerts, Model UN, etc. Little did we know it would all come to a screeching halt seven months later.
As we embark on this new year, I wonder what it will feel like. I think we’ve learned some valuable lessons over the past six months, one being that we were simply too darn busy before. We packed our schedules too tightly, supported (or pushed) our kids into doing more for the sake of…what, exactly? I think it was to make sure they had every opportunity to experience the world so they could discover their passions and talents and..blah blah blah. All that’s great to an extent, but when every evening and weekend becomes filled up, you struggle to remember what it’s all for.
I am certainly looking forward to having the kids refocus on academics, and Maxine will start some weird form of distance soccer practice next week, but our evenings and weekends on the horizon are still looking pretty sane.
My Corner of the Village 