Summer has officially started at our house. Yesterday was my son's last day of school. I'm grateful to still have a link to the school year rhythm that I remember so well from my youth. What will I do when he graduates in two years? In so many ways I've been asking myself that question.
Some very dear friends of ours popped in from out of town for a visit this week. They are planning to travel more once their kids are launched. My husband and I have already begun taking more day trips...going back to being the "partners in adventure" that we were when we met. Our son is no longer interested in joining us, but the dog comes along on occasion. I picture us vacationing more, working less, shifting our routines when Chris has gone to college.
It may seem silly to be thinking about this now, when we've got two years to go. I've guess I've always been someone who likes to plan ahead. The thing is, being a mother has been the most cherished aspect of my life, and two years seems like a short time left. I'm grateful that I've retained my professional identity. I feel like I've lived in the best of both worlds, combining part time work with motherhood, but lately I've been savoring my hours at home.This last month Chris has been riding the city bus home from school to save on gas, and after sixteen years of being a mom, all of a sudden I'm playing house.
When I was a girl, I loved to play house. Not very imaginative I know. In my sister's scenarios we were ballerinas who were kidnapped, but when it was my turn we were mommies who would visit the neighbors and have tea. Now that I'm no longer driving Chris home, I've been setting up my work day to be here when he gets here. Sometimes I bake cookies. It's as if I'm living in a Leave it to Beaver world, and it is hitting the spot.
I have friends who are doing the same thing, getting laid off and staying home. When we grew up the feminists had paved the way for us to work, and work we did. Gratefully. But midlife is a time to look at what one hasn't yet done, and I realized that I hadn't stayed home and made cookies for my son when he comes home from school. Not everyone wants to do that, but clearly that was a childhood fantasy of mine. I suspect that I will get restless if I do it for long. I may not even last the summer. And I am still working. I thank the feminists for the choice to do both. But I only have two years left with Chris at home, and I want to soak up every aspect of motherhood that I can. So cookies it is. And maybe lemonade, although he's too old for a stand...his teenage friends will have to come over and guzzle it instead.
I wonder how many other people will find that this economy and gas crisis gives them an unexpected window into a simpler time and an aspect of their personality that may have been overshadowed by our hustle bustle world. If you have a story of retro summertime living, I would love to hear from you.
