the grass is always greener…

Aforementioned daughter gave me the book "Confessions of a Slacker Mom" by Muffy mead-ferro.  Good book.  Muffy decides that she isn't going to jump through all the hoops that her yuppy peers do, in their race to be good parents.  She realizes that she grew up just fine, in spite of the lack of a bedroom stocked to the rafters with toys, outrageous birthday parties, and a brand new car.  Thus, her children will not be keeping up with the Jr. Jones's.

I, guess by that definition, I, too, am a slacker mom.  Although, my lack of money contributes to this situation as much as just plain laziness.  If I had the money, my kids would undoubtedly have better childhoods than I did.  But, what is better, anyway?  And what's wrong with the way I grew up?  I'm fairly normal (what is normal?) self-sufficient, caring, blah, blah, blah.

Isn't that what I want for my children?  So, maybe I wouldn't really change things.  Well, I would put it in a pool, but I would hire a poolboy to take care of it, because I wouldn't feel like it, and God knows it would be growing all manner of organisms before the hubby got around to it.

My daughter graduates from high school next weekend.  I cannot figure out where the time has gone.  I remember when I was carrying her, someone told me to enjoy her childhood, that it would too soon be gone.  I thought that was a joke, but MAN!  Where did it go?

My beautiful baby girl is no longer a baby.  She will enter the world without me soon.  How am I to let her go?  She will have experiences that I will know nothing about.  On one hand, I would love for her to be little again, just to absorb her sweetness and breathe her energy.  On the other hand, she is such a beautiful soul that I don’t want to miss one minute of this.

I guess I won’t have much time to waller in my self pity and loneliness, with two boys left in the house.  I know they’ll do their best to keep me upbeat, but I think I will still find time to reflect and reminisce.

And then, it’s off to all the summer activities we can pack into a few short weeks before they head back to school.

I received a dishwasher for Christmas.  After 28 years of washing dishes, I finally got my very own dishwasher.  I used to wonder if  I was the only person left in the world washing dishes by hand.  In my saner moments, however, I knew that in reality, hand washers probably far out-number those who have the luxury of  hiding their dirty dishes away, to later retrieve clean, sparkly dinnerware.

But guess what?  I’m still a hand washer.  Not by choice, mind you, but because 5 whole months later, my dishwasher is still sitting in a corner of my dining room, where it magically appeared on Christmas Eve.

Now, most women would undoubtedly be fit to be tied by now.  I, on the other hand, have lived in this continuum for the last half of my life, so I am confident that I will be using my not-quite brand-spanking new anymore dishwasher by this next Christmas.

My husband is my Favorite Person on this earth, second only to my mama.  And as his title deems necessary, I have accepted his shortcomings, (as I thank God every day that he returns the favor!) and I try -some days harder than others- to take his tardiness in stride.

His job consumes almost every one of his waking moments, so by the weekend, he is so exhausted, that he has trouble finding the energy to play handyman.  While I know the reason, I still have difficulty holding my tongue and not urging him to fix something.   I also know that all of these little jobs – If I don’t do them first – will eventually get done, I just need to show some patience.

Sometimes I compare my life with those of some of my friends, and even though they each possess something (a skill, personality trait, swimming pool) that I would like to have, I would still rather have my tired husband and my family and home – even our dimwitted dog – any day.

So, is the grass really greener, or is it just my imagination?