These days, I get up early. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week. I get into the office early, not only so I can be productive, but so that I can get home early enough to enjoy family life.
These days our life is full. The kids have lots of activities – piano, violin, robotics, girl scouts and swimming for Tabby and piano, swimming and karate for Ben – and Matt and I have many interests of our own.
These days we don’t worry so much about sniffles and sleeping through the night … we worry about peer pressure and social media … having the right friends, the right skills and developing character.
These days just Matt and I frequently go out to run errands and have dinner or lunch. It’s nice being just the two of us, but we miss the kids and we can see a future when it’s just the two of us at home which is a bit hard to wrap our heads around.
These days we travel a lot. We enjoy seeing new places and being with friends and getting away from our somewhat chaotic daily lives. We enjoy being with the kids in a focused way.
These days our house is organized chaos. It’s a constant effort to keep clutter and mess at bay, but it’s vibrant and noisy and fun. It’s full of snacks and friends and papers from school and sheet music and mis-matched socks and the smells of cooking.
These days the kids love their books. Ben loves Calvin and Hobbes and The Penderwicks, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries. Tabby loves all the Percy Jackson books plus whatever she has to read for school.
These days the kids also love their video games. Tabby loves The Sims and Ben loves Fortnite and Roadblocks. They like the idea of programming but don’t do it as much as we would like.
These days Tabby is pretty all-consumed by school. She takes math along with the advanced 8th graders and does all honor classes plus Spanish and Orchestra. After school she does robotics and concert jazz band. She loves to chat with me and thinks Girl Scouts is still so much fun.
These days Ben is on the cusp of young adulthood but not quite there yet. He still likes to snuggle and listen to books with me and hold his lovies tight. I know time will soon be robbing me of this little boy and while I keep helping him to gain independence and take on responsibility, there are parts of him I want to stay young.
These days Matt and I like to go on long walks around the neighborhood. We discuss finances, issues at work, the kids and plans for the future. We double date with other couples but have trouble finding people to travel with. We make an effort to be together and always be communicating because life is busy but our relationship is important.
These days we both work a lot. We are responsible leaders in our organizations. I volunteer with the library and as a Girl Scout leader. We have to be responsible at home too, keeping everyone fed and the house more or less clean and organized.
These days I “dress to impress” Monday through Friday in tailored outfits with appropriate jewelry, subtle makeup and cute shoes. The weekends and work at home days I revel in yoga pants, t’shirts with snappy sayings and cozy sweatshirts.
These days Matt loves working in his shop. He makes beautiful things, frequently for us, sometimes with friends. He also plays video games and argues with people/gives people advice on Reddit.
These days I still enjoy video games but I spend a lot of time on watercolor and brush lettering. I also have no idea what music is popular because I listen almost exclusively to podcasts and audio books.
These days Cocoa isn’t the sweet terror she once was. She’s now developed into a pretty nice dog who’s actually fun to take places. She still doesn’t much like food and does a poor job cleaning up after the kids. She is a major source of joy in our lives.
These days we see our Nashville family a few times a year – mostly they travel to visit us or we vacation together. It’s a real treat for the kids to get to see everyone and we’re always excited for it.
These days we see Dad and Kelly for Sunday dinner and at other times just about every week. And we love to travel together. Dad is doing well aside from a few aches and pains, taking exotic fishing vacations and hiking and camping. Kelly is working hard at her job and enjoying her leisure time with us and her friends.
These days I still miss Mom daily but the quality is more nostalgic than painful, except when it isn’t. The worst times are when I want her advice, but can’t get it. I can conjure her up in my mind and still get an answer, but it isn’t the same, of course. I wish she was here so I could see her seeing the kids grow and hear her laugh.
These days life is good. I look at the people around me, the work I get to do and the fun time I get to enjoy and feel sincere gratitude for my life and especially the people in it.