I hear you. This year I decorated the door alone, stood shaking on the ladder, trying to hang the phantom from the gutters. Kids posted snaps with the ghoul behind them almost every day, but I received no thanks for the creative backdrop. My 11-year-old son went straight to a friends house after school and I picked him up at 9:30 on a school night. I did not even see him in costume. Not one picture was taken. My 13-year-old daughter, now taller than me and looking like Ziggy Stardust on a daily basis, puts together the laziest outfit, a construction vest and announces she is going to a party. She is not even interested in answering the doorbell. She makes fun of me for buying shitty candy.
So, their dad and I rummaged through our well curated tickle trunk, lamenting about their lack of effort. Then he, dressed in baby blue tuxedo with ruffles and cummerbund and I, in a jean bell bottom onsie and fur coat head to our neighbors for a drink and to commiserate.
This new normal of waiting around for their phone calls to pick them up sure is bittersweet. I feel more free and more alive, yet simultaneously stuck pending their sporadic need for me. Job duties have shifted to being on call.
I feel this one a lot. We took in our 15 year old nephew who is 18 now and will leave for college this summer. I have two kids 5 and 8 and getting a crash course on parenting a teen made me realize these moments with my littles are so precious and fleeting. I need to make excuses to see my nephew who is living a great teenage life and that’s just how it goes. I see him less and I was gifted with understanding to cherish my time with my kids that much more.
I hear you. This year I decorated the door alone, stood shaking on the ladder, trying to hang the phantom from the gutters. Kids posted snaps with the ghoul behind them almost every day, but I received no thanks for the creative backdrop. My 11-year-old son went straight to a friends house after school and I picked him up at 9:30 on a school night. I did not even see him in costume. Not one picture was taken. My 13-year-old daughter, now taller than me and looking like Ziggy Stardust on a daily basis, puts together the laziest outfit, a construction vest and announces she is going to a party. She is not even interested in answering the doorbell. She makes fun of me for buying shitty candy.
So, their dad and I rummaged through our well curated tickle trunk, lamenting about their lack of effort. Then he, dressed in baby blue tuxedo with ruffles and cummerbund and I, in a jean bell bottom onsie and fur coat head to our neighbors for a drink and to commiserate.
This new normal of waiting around for their phone calls to pick them up sure is bittersweet. I feel more free and more alive, yet simultaneously stuck pending their sporadic need for me. Job duties have shifted to being on call.
I feel this one a lot. We took in our 15 year old nephew who is 18 now and will leave for college this summer. I have two kids 5 and 8 and getting a crash course on parenting a teen made me realize these moments with my littles are so precious and fleeting. I need to make excuses to see my nephew who is living a great teenage life and that’s just how it goes. I see him less and I was gifted with understanding to cherish my time with my kids that much more.