Tag Archives: family

Goodbye, Old Girl

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Lucy5I can’t believe how many tears have been shed in the last few days over a little dog. She was the first thing we ever took care of together. She has been there every step of our marriage and the building of our family. She was our sole focus and when the time came, she stepped aside for Soren. And then for Frances. She stopped getting consistent walks without protest. She did it for us. She accepted her station in life.

I know the loss of a dog is something of deep sadness but the thing is, she wasn’t a dog. She was a curmudgeon of a grumpy old lady. With human eyes, a human heart and sometimes, I swear she talked to us. She bit a lot of ankles. Didn’t like anyone who rang the bell or came to the front door. Sometimes she was a bitch of a dog who was barely likable to anyone but us.

Losing her, especially at such a reflective and sentimental time of year, has made me think about how short time is, about how every second with someone (or something) counts. Lucy was a tiny puppy that I held in the palm of my hand, and in a blink, she is gone and our hearts are broken. And I will miss her and see her out of the corner of my eye forever.

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The SAHM’s Art of Doing Nothing

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No matter how you cut it, a Mom’s work is hard, plain and simple. I respect every mom for her chosen path. Some have to work; some choose to work to be better moms when they’re at home; some stay at home; some stay at home and homeschool; some stay at home, homeschool and bake their own bread (and for the record, I’m no pioneer. I am (most days) just barely a SAHM). It’s all challenging. All versions of the gig have their pitfalls. There was a time before Soren when I think I might have been under the assumption that this wasn’t a job. That if I could just stay at home with my kids, I would, you know, do nothing but eat bon-bons, put my feet up, have more time to do laundry and on the side, raise my kids. As it turns out, not the job description.

One of the scariest parts of this job are long days, trapped inside the house. On these days, I try to amp up the activity. I keep us real, real busy. Working really hard, hauling kids from place to place. But this morning, I took a different approach. Sure, there are no bon-bons and I only put my feet up from 8:30pm (kid’s bedtime) to 9:15pm (my bedtime) but I could embrace some “doing nothing”. Instead of a playdate at the park, I was the human jungle gym. Instead of running errands in the car, we did airplanes on the floor. Instead of teaching them their ABC’s, I taught Soren how to rub my shoulders (for which a grateful daughter-in-law will thank me one day). Didn’t do a stitch of laundry. It will be there tomorrow. It always is.

Some on-the-job injuries were sustained but all in all, I got to enjoy what I do today. I ought to explore the perks of the job more often: my only deadline is dinner, bath, bed. The only important call I need to make is on a Fischer Price telephone. The only spreadsheet in my life these days houses the addresses for our Christmas card mailing list. My uniform is sweats. And when I want to, I can just hang with these kids and do nothing.

It’s not always easy and there are days when I wonder what my career path is. My patience with The Management is tested time and time again. But then I get a Bonus Kiss, or my “bosses” say that they love me or my husband gives me a vacation day. I get to hang out with some fabulous people. Serious perks to this job.