Missing Children

The kids have been on vacation for the whole week with their mother, so I've had a lot of time on my hands for the past few days. I've definitely been keeping myself busy, and others have been trying to keep me even busier, so the time has gone by quickly. It's actually been great having time away from the kids this week. I've been able to keep the house really clean all this time, so long as I keep the doors to their rooms closed. I've been getting more work done - lesson planning, writing, preparing my classroom, and fixing some things around the house. I've even been able to spend more time with someone special, time that I definitely couldn't spare with the demands of children. All in all, it's been a productive and self-gratifying week.

Still, I can't wait for them to come home. It's like the house is a little too clean. And too quiet. There's no card game at night. I realized on Monday that I don't know how to cook for one person, so I've been on the sandwich diet all week. No one to wake me up too early on Saturday morning, but then no one to give me an excuse to watch Saturday morning cartoons either. To my shame, I'm even finding that I don't do devotions nightly when they're not around, and so I tend to not do them at all. I don't think I've ever complained about the burden of having kids to raise, maybe jokingly, but their absence is a kind of burden also. Luckily, they're actually on staycation, so I've been able to come up with a couple of good reasons to stop by and see them for a few minutes, sort of get my kid fix, as my friend, who's a new father, would say.

Tomorrow they're coming back, and the next day school starts, so we're back in the routine again. The summer days of spending so much quality time together are over, and the days of hustle and grind are back. But I'm actually looking forward to cooking and washing and tucking kids in at night again. (Just the one kid, really. I have to clarify for my son's sake, he does not require tucking in. A simple pound and peace out is enough for him.) I suppose this time has been valuable, not just for the things it's allowed me to do, but to make me miss the things I'm required to do.