Saturday, September 27, 2008

It's Quiet...Too Quiet

Wow! I'ts quiet around here. Well, as quiet as it gets in an Indian neighborhood. The horns are still honking, and the wild dogs barking, and the vendors plying their wares. An argument will probably break out on the street soon, there is a least one a day. But I digress.

My house has no children in it today. Bee has gone to spend the night with a friend, and the boys are in school in Thailand so our house is empty. Except for Norm and I, of course. It's very strange. I feel like I should be looking for someone or something. After taking care of kids for seventeen years, It's really weird not to have at least one of them around. All of this quiet has made me think. These thoughts are pretty random, but I decided to stick them in this blog anyway. So here you go, the ramblings of a mother face to face with the reality of her kids growing up.

At breakfast this morning I was thinking wow, in just three years our house will always be like this. If Bee decides to go to boarding school like the boys, and she already wants too, she will start in ninth grade. Just three years away. I don't know if your life seems to be moving as fast as mine, but whoa! three years doesn't seem like much time to me.

That thought lead to the next one which really blew my mind. In five or six years I could be a grandmother. Sooner if AJ gets married as young as we did. But, I am hoping he will wait until after college, so I am going to go with at least five years. Only five years! SLOW THIS TRAIN DOWN, I WANT TO GET OFF! I am still a kid at heart, I have no business being a grandparent. I am only 37 years old for heaven's sake. But, we had our children young, and now AJ just turned 17, so in reality it could be soon. Much too soon. Honestly I still think of my sons as little boys, don't all mom's? Every time I see them again, I am shocked. They are both over six feet tall, with broad shoulders. The have big muscles and facial hair. When did all this happen!Frankly they are beginning to make their dad look small, and he is not a small guy.How in the world did this happen?

I am so thankful that for school next year we will all be living together in the States, one last year of family life. Then, AJ will go to college, Mace will be in Thailand and Norm, Bee, and I will be back here in India. When I was a young mom with three kids under five years old, I had some long days. People kept telling me that my kids would be grown up before I knew it, and I really couldn't fathom it. Now, today, sitting in an empty house, I see that they were right. Time flies when your having fun, and we have had a lot of it. The boys are coming home in just a couple of weeks. I am going to make sure to savor the remaining times we have together.

3 comments:

Tami said...

It does go by too fast. ;>) I'm counting on you becoming a grandma first (I think that's a pretty safe bet). Len may beat you to it though. Jacob is a sophomore. That freaks me out! My brother more than likely will be a grandfather before I am. HA!

Dana said...

You make me cry today. Time does fly by, and we need to treasure our time with our children. At the moment my pre-teen female child is stomping around the house because she had to vacuum carpets instead of mop the tile. Hmmm. God love her. God help me love her too!

We had a great laugh last night as our teen male danced in front of the bathroom mirror (we only have one bathroom in our new parsonage). He strutted his stuff and showed off his bulging muscles. Trent giggled remembering what it was like to be a teenager hoping your body would grow every day. Now we step on the scales praying we didn't gain more than a pound yesterday.

Hug your teens today. You'll be glad you did!

Shannon said...

Wow! I know that will be me in the blink of an eye...it is gonna go by so fast! Lee and I just got back from a trip to Goa - it's the longest I've ever been away from either of the girls and I cried the whole way to the airport! I kept thinking about Shanti getting married - what am I going to do when I'm empty nesting?!?! Whew...makes you think doesn't it? Well, you're a great mom, so keep it up.