Less than 24 hours. That’s how long it took for my son to come back. Oh, not permanently or anything. He just stopped in to say hi…and have dinner. And get some help with his computer. And raid the refrigerator. Nothing I wasn’t expecting eventually. And it was quite nice to see him.
Summer is that time of the year when I get a taste of what it will be like when all the kids are gone with lives of their own. The girls spend more days staying with friends than they do staying at home when they don’t have homework, and early curfews, and things of that nature to keep them home every night. They have this illusion of freedom that begins with the first day of summer and fades as the first day of a new school year looms. I fear this freedom will only spread once they have actual driver’s licenses instead of permits, and jobs, and college. And then one day, the girls will come home and tell us they are moving out, and…I don’t know, maybe I’m still deluding myself into thinking it won’t happen anytime soon, but I’m not that worried yet. I can’t allow myself to imagine that next year they are high school seniors and just one year from now we will be preparing for the girls to go off to college.
The summer will give me time to practice being lonely without them. And maybe enjoying the peace a little bit too.
Mike and I took a long drive at dusk. Just two milkshakes, a stretch of country road, and the two of us. It was nice. We drove for over an hour just taking in the scenery. A few pawn shops, a tattoo parlor, and a bail bonds office in the middle of small town Georgia. My sister may not have been far off when she told me to watch out for the “redneck” sightings in that part of town. I didn’t see any though. I’m not really sure I’d know one if I saw one. We did see a dead deer on the side of the road…but there was no one rushing to claim it, so I suppose we were still fairly safely within civilization.
We were just turning around to head back home when my cell phone rang—it was my son. He needed more help setting up his computer in his new house. Lucky for him his house was right on the way home to our house.
An hour (and one trip to an all night Wal-Mart later) and we were on our way back home, with Spencer successfully set up with wireless computer access!
I guess I was worried for nothing. They can move out if they want to, but they will always need their parents. Even if it’s just in some small way.
Until the next time…I’ll be enjoying my practice empty nest time!