Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Boys Will Be Boys

Yesterday was an eye opener.  We've been married for nearly 24 years, and have two (relatively) adult male children, so eye openers have been a staple for 22 of those years.

Why relatively?  Well the youngest just turned 18 five days ago.  Granted, at times he seems more mature than anyone else in our house...me included.  The oldest at 22 shows is mature, however, yesterday showed us he is still a kid at heart.

Our boys decided to hop in the truck and drive around town to catch the every elusive Pokemon.   This was a cartoon they grew up on and they collected all of the cards.  In fact, we still have those cards in various places in our home (desk, dresser, basement, possibly under a bed).  I wonder if they are worth anything...could they fund spring break? Part of me wants to jump on the bandwagon and run around town catching 'em all.  I used to love video games (Crash Bandicoot was my favorite), and I still spent mindless time playing Candy Crush Soda Saga on my phone.   The other part of me wants to relish in the fact that it is quiet in our house.   Better yet, this little adventure ensured they weren't fighting.  Thus, the eye opener.

In just four short weeks, our foursome will become a threesome once again, and then two weeks after that, the threesome will become a twosome.

I'm not yet in panic mode knowing they will both be gone.  I have begun the list.  Those parents with college age kids know what I'm talking about.  The list of all things we need to buy so they can live comfortably in a 12' x 10' room.  We have a better grasp on what needs to be bought and taken up for the first year, since four years ago we went through this.

This weekend (or next, or the weekend after that), will be spent washing clothes they will probably want to take; going through and organizing what games will be taken; and figuring out how many shorts a football player really needs for two-a-days.  We'll go shopping for sheets, and cases of Gatorade, and decide whether or not to buy paper plates or go without.  The youngest will be on the lookout for posters, and I'll be in the school supply aisle silently sobbing to myself.

We know that we will still see our boys quite a bit.  Since our kids will be at the same college for four months while our oldest finishes a minor, and our youngest will be playing football, we will be on campus.  What will be different is knowing that after we watch a Saturday game, we'll hop in the truck and head back to an empty house, where we know there will be milk in the fridge, treats in the cupboard, and quiet.

As a mom, I love the time we spend with our grown kids.  Last weekend, we took our 18 year old to see "The Secret Life of Pets", and in a few weeks we will all take a mini vacation and spend time together before they leave for the semester.

Our family dynamic is changing.  I grew up in a house where once my siblings hit 15 or 16, they were never home.  I was the one home with mom and dad.  Being 8 or 9 at the time, when the next youngest flew the coop, I felt like an only child.   Sure they came back occasionally, and even after two moved out at 18 they came back, but it never really felt like that Norman Rockwell family.  Does that mean that we have that Norman Rockwell family?  Not a chance in hell.  And frankly, I don't want that.  That's just too much damn pressure.

We love each other unconditionally.  We cheer each other on.  We laugh at each others jokes.  We laugh at each other.  And we fight.  Oh boy do we fight.  Does that mean as a family we have problems and can't cope?  No, it just means that sometimes I am right and everyone else in the house in wrong.  (Sorry honey...I know, I know.  You are the one that is always right).  It actually means although we value each others opinions, sometimes they just suck...and we will tell you that they suck.  Then we'll sit down for a dinner of homemade spaghetti, while I try not to laugh when one or more of the three males in the house farts to get me to laugh.

I wouldn't trade having two boys for anything in the world.  








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