Dan is up visiting Miss L in Reno this weekend, so Miss G and I find ourselves alone together for two whole days. She’s all lit up about it, even turned down a chance to sleep over at Miss B’s house so we could hang out. I’m all lit up about it too.
I can’t quite believe that, at twelve, she is voluntarily choosing to spend time with her mother. Even though we’ll be going clothes shopping tomorrow. But I freakin’ love it, even more because I know full parental ditch mode is approaching. So fast it’s all blurry.
So, I made her favorite bean dip and we hunkered down to James & the Giant Peach, a movie we haven’t seen since she was just a little twink. But instead of getting lost in the show, I got lost in nostalgia.
It’s like we cut and pasted ourselves out of 10 years ago and into a new coloring book-- same bean dip, same movie, same positions on the couch. But everything surrounding us is different. Vertigo-inducing different.
With a backdrop still so new I sometimes don't recognize it, tonight I’m grateful that this one thing holds true. Miss G and me. Team Us. Even if for just a little while longer.
I can’t quite believe that, at twelve, she is voluntarily choosing to spend time with her mother. Even though we’ll be going clothes shopping tomorrow. But I freakin’ love it, even more because I know full parental ditch mode is approaching. So fast it’s all blurry.
So, I made her favorite bean dip and we hunkered down to James & the Giant Peach, a movie we haven’t seen since she was just a little twink. But instead of getting lost in the show, I got lost in nostalgia.
It’s like we cut and pasted ourselves out of 10 years ago and into a new coloring book-- same bean dip, same movie, same positions on the couch. But everything surrounding us is different. Vertigo-inducing different.
With a backdrop still so new I sometimes don't recognize it, tonight I’m grateful that this one thing holds true. Miss G and me. Team Us. Even if for just a little while longer.
My oldest went to Australia when he was 14. When he got home, and we were finally alone, just the two of us, he actually did his best to sit on my lap--gangly limbs and all--to hug my neck and tell me he missed me, and then tell me stories into the wee hours of the morning.
ReplyDeleteAll through the years he went to college, when I was trying my best to let him go be him (he lived at home) every so often he would invite me to go get coffee or a late-night stack of pancakes at IHOP. And we always celebrated the beginning and end of each semester.
When he got married at 22, he asked me to walk him down the aisle. (New tradition; he and his wife love creating them.)
The moments you enjoy now, I believe, are what keep them coming later.
Thanks, Carolyn. I agree. Now that Miss G's just about bigger than me, I sit on her lap instead. :)
ReplyDeleteMy 17 year old would squish me if she were to try to sit on my lap! (She's a bean pole, but a tall one!) We get along pretty well mostly; there are those times, of course, but over all. The "ditch the parents" syndrome isn't carved in stone; some kids get it, some don't. (And I can't take credit- I think my middle child will get it BADDDD.)
ReplyDelete@Kim-- I have my fingers crossed we'll get through the next few years okay. We're pretty tight, which could make things much easier or much harder, depending.
ReplyDelete