I don’t get to have the house to myself all that often, but when I do, it’s a whole new ballgame. Since the kids aren’t around for a couple of days, it’s just me and the canines, The Black Dog and Smart, Sassy Border Collie!
The first thing that goes by the wayside is dinner, ain’t no cooking going on around here, unless you consider toasting a bagel cooking. Take out, carry out and delivery works for me. I can even have ice cream for dinner kids, how about that?
Secondly, I now have total control of the remote and the phone. “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” will not be heard for the time being. Heck, I can even lounge around in my PJ’s with no questions or comments, “But Mom, why are you in your pajamas, it’s only 7 pm, that’s so embarrassing. Everything a Mom says and does is embarrassing to teens!
I can hop in and out of my car quickly, which doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when the kids are with me, it takes forever for them to get their butts out of the car, I don’t know what they’re doing in there, and maybe I really don’t want to know. I also get to be “in charge” of the music, not only the selections, but the volume. I like to listen to my music very LOUD, and my kids look at me like I’m nuts, “Mom, turn it down, that’s embarrassing!” They don’t seem to realize, or care for that matter, that I was a child of the 70’s and that’s the way we played music, at the deafening level.
I’m guilty of telling them to get off their computers, iPods, etc., and go outside and get some fresh air. But while they’re gone, I can “do as I want, not as I say,” and stay on my laptop for hours upon end. Heck I can even bring my laptop to the dinner table, while I eat take out.
I can talk on the phone without being interrupted, yes they still do that even though they are teens. And I don’t need to tailor my conversations for their innocent ears, in other words, I can let the conversation rip!
I should add, that although I do miss both of them, all parents deserve a break. Yes, a break from the bickering, the {eye-rolling}, door slamming, dishes, piles of laundry, well, you get the picture.
Soon things will again “return to normal,” whatever that is. School will begin, and routines will be the boss again. But until then, I’m kicking back and enjoying the peace.
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