• Parenting

Friday, August 15, 2008

A List of Discoveries!

posted by drouse at 11h14

Emily has been away for almost three weeks now. We shipped her off to Detroit to visit her grandparents and cousins. A week before that, she was in sleep-away camp with the Girl Guides.

The absence of her physical prescence has led to some amazing re-discoveries, which I will now illuminate in List Form!

1. My husband and I seem to be able to use the SAME towel for almost a whole week. These towels dry because they are properly hung up and allowed to dry before we use them again. This discovery has led to number 2.

2. Two adults only seem to produce two loads of laundry a week! One whites and one colours. I keep looking at the laundry bsaket to see if there is more ...but there never is. It is stunning. I know we are changing our clothes daily.....

3. Dishes make it back to the sink...and there are very few dishes!!

4. Foods such as olives, bread, oil, tabouleh, couscous and ripe tomatos make wonderful dinners. And no one makes a terrible face, while sticking our their tongue and saying, "But I don't LIKE it."

5. Dinner can be at any time.

6. We can go to movies in the evening...or the afternoon like we did last Wednesday. I was unaware that people viewed movies on a Wednesday afternoon! Amazing!

7. The cat and rabbit will STILL wake you up at 7 a.m. for food. But they don't turn on the television and lay on top of you once you feed them.

8. I have cleaned Emily's room over the last several days ( and YES - it took several days. I am not woman enough to do it in one fell swoop)...and it has remained clean. I mean CLEAN clean. All clothes were returned to their proper drawers, the mysterious mitten I found mixed into the hair clips was brought back to the winter gear bag, and all the art supplies were placed back into their desginated containers. Pencils were sharpened. Paper replenished. I just need to do her American Girl Dolls Hair and set them back on the bed and I will be done...

9. No one has used my entire bottle of Aveda Shampoo in one massive hair and body wash session. And the toilet has been flushed - all the time.

10. Having sex with the door open is a fun reminder of how we ended up with a child in the first place.

With all that being said....I miss her. This feeling will pass when we pick her up on Monday and she creates her path of destruction through the house...leaving wet clothes, towels, dishes, and the various odds and ends she prepetually carries in the nooks and crannies of my life. But that's Ok.

I like the reminder of my life before her. I like the glimpse of my life after she heads out on her own....but the break from her is a way for me to refresh my spirit. And be a better mommy when she gets back. At least for a little while.