Lori Sabo
August 28, 2009
I've never spent time on a ship, but I've heard that after months at sea, it takes awhile to get your land legs back. The adjustment can be a bit rocky for people, especially if they've been at sea for a long time. It reminds me a bit of our marriage phases.
We started with just the two of us...blissfully in love...(land legs) Then our two kids came along. We sailed on that parent ship for 21 years and they turned out great. They ar
e smart, kind, good looking....and I'm not just saying that because I'm their mother. Both are college graduates. No longer under our continuous care and tutelage, they have become visitors in the home where they grew up.
I'll be the first to admit that the empty nest was at first tortuously painful. Walking past their empty beds at night was more than I could take, so I learned to keep their doors shut, which allowed me to get to my own bed without passing the emptiness. But now I've got my land legs back, and my hubby and I are once again enjoying our alone time the way we did when we were newlyweds. We can have snack food for dinner, walk around in our underwear if we want to and work late without worrying about kids being home alone. Ahhhhh, it's bliss.
My children came over for the weekend recently and the visit was mostly filled with love and laughter. I say mostly because there was one brief, albeit painful instance, when they reminded me that time marches on and I am morphing into my parents before their very eyes. I am speaking of the moment when they came out of the kitchen with an amused mocking gleam in their eyes, each holding a bottle of something or other from the refrigerator that had expired long ago.
It's not funny.
Ok, it's a little funny.
Now it's time for a new school year to begin. If you've spent your summer relaxing, refreshing and recharging, you will undoubtedly enter with that shiny hopeful idealistic attitude we do each time we get a fresh start. Don't forget that it will likely take awhile to get our school legs back again. Don't get discouraged when you are so tired after the first week that you can hardly see straight. It's bound to be a bit rocky as we get our equilibrium back, but we'll hit our stride after a bit and fall back into the wonderful rhythm and energy of learning together. I just know it.