Tuesday, May 1, 2012

When Children Leave Home

I'm sitting here in my super messy, very cluttered living room, realizing how tired I am of trying to get my kids to clean up after themselves. And then it hit me. I'm officially about halfway through my "stay at home mom" career, and before I know it, it will be over! The kids will move on (hopefully) and I will be left here with my own messes to pick up and no one to nag about finishing school work, cleaning up art supplies, or picking up their toys. What will I do with myself?!

No...really...what WILL I do with myself? Obviously I will still have my business to run, because I'm sure I will still enjoy eating...and a roof over my head... But other than that, what will I do with my time? When the kids were little, I enjoyed scrapbooking. But I quickly realized it was too stressful, because I'm a perfectionist who is never happy with my creations. Same with sewing. Sewing is fun, but when something goes wrong, you have to stop and fix it...yuck.

These days, my time is spent going to or watching kids' activities. There is dance, baseball, basketball, soccer, Taekwondo, swimming, cheerleading, and football... I just can't imagine not having these things anymore. I guess after the next nine years, I may feel differently. As they are able to drive themselves, or drop some activities, my time will slowly become mine again, and when they finally move on to college, or career, or whatever is in their futures, perhaps I will appreciate the time and find things to fill it. Like Bingo...or Bridge...isn't that what old ladies do? Perhaps I will garden. Who knows?

All I know right now is that SOMEBODY needs to pick up this living room. What a mess!

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