A funny thing happened last night.
Real Man wound up getting stuck late at work, and so the kids and I wound up eating dinner (roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans) and having dessert alone.
We chatted and had a nice meal, and then, since they had all finished their homework, they asked if they could go to the basement and finish watching “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days.”
Monkey in the Middle is a bit obsessed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
He’s read all the books and owns all the movies, and over the weekend, finally sucked his siblings into watching with him.
So, the three big kids started heading downstairs and suddenly, Tiny turns to me and starts yelling “Movie! Movie!”
So, I said, “Okay, you can watch for a little bit,” and he turned, opened the basement door and backed his way down the stairs, into the basement, climbed up on the couch between his siblings, and happily sat and watched a movie where he probably had no idea what he was seeing.
He was happy as a pig in a mud puddle.
And suddenly, I was alone in the kitchen.
It was quiet, and I had an hour before I needed to put Tiny to bed and start reading books with Baby and got MITM and Monkey Girl to start reading theirs.
I cleaned up the dishes, and then decided to go ahead and brown some ground beef so I could make chili in the crockpot for dinner today.
While I cooked the ground beef, I read The Racketeer by John Grisham, and just felt myself relax.
And I started to realize that as much as I get teary and sad when I think about my babies growing up on me, perhaps there are some perks to their independence and maturing.
Because, I’ll be honest, it was nice to have that time to do a little prep work for tomorrow and, most importantly, to have a few minutes to read and relax.
I’m still weepy and horrified at the thought of my babies growing up and leaving me, and when I heard Tiny announce, “All done movie,” and heard his little thumpy body making it’s way back up the stairs, I got a huge smile on my face because I had missed him while he was down there.
But tonight, I think I took a little step forward and I’m realizing that it might be okay to let go…just a little.
I have forbidden Bella to grow up any further. I told her you must stay five forever. She looks at me like I’m crazy and says “I can’t do that!”
Comment by Daniel Bozza — January 8, 2013 @ 8:02 am |
LOL, Dan I do the same thing to the kids. They’ll say something like, “Mom, I’m going to be 15 someday” and I pretend to start crying and say “NO! NO!” They think it’s hysterical. 🙂
Comment by abozza — January 8, 2013 @ 8:37 am |
I know exactly what you mean – they grow up so fast! My dudes, 8 and 11, are becoming so independent. I miss the toddler years (sometimes)! 🙂
Comment by jeandayfriday — January 9, 2013 @ 10:05 am |
Exactly! It goes WAY too fast. 🙁
Comment by abozza — January 9, 2013 @ 10:12 am |
You definitely need to read Katrina Kenison’s newest book, Magical Journey. It deals with the very subject. Also her earlier one called An Ordinary Day
Comment by Jackie — January 10, 2013 @ 4:02 am |
I will definitely check this out! Thank you!
Comment by abozza — January 10, 2013 @ 7:39 am |
Amy – you’re growing up!! 🙂 Glad you had some QT with yourself…often we take ourselves for granted.
Tip for the beef in the chili – I usually let it cook in the crockpot vs browning it beforehand. We prefer softer meat vs the harder texture you get when you brown it first. Toss everything in the crock, add defrosted ground beef, swish around so its evenly distributed and let it do its own thing. Magic comes out 8 hrs later.
Comment by myliladventures — January 12, 2013 @ 8:47 pm |
Never thought of cooking the beef right in the crockpot! Excellent idea!!!
Comment by Amy — January 12, 2013 @ 8:59 pm |