October has brought some changes, as this summer our adult son had come to stay with us a couple months growing our family of 5 up to 6 temporarily. This month our adult daughter has gone visiting yet is in the process of looking for a place in that area to move out on her own again taking our family down to just 4.
This has left the month quiet, everyone working out their new grooves and routines without an extra person here to share computers, TVs and game systems with. It always amazes me how much quieter a house gets after a person leaves it, even if they are one of the quiet ones! When a fair amount of people share a very small space together, it is always quite noticeable when they are not around.
We have also been adjusting to hubby's working hours that have been bouncing around, going from an opening shift where he had to be up by 4am to a closing shift where he does not leave until 4 pm and gets home at 1am has been quite a change! That has meant dinner at lunchtime so he could eat prior to work and a quick easy lunch for me and the kids at night when he was gone. I actually loved that due to dishes getting done early in the day and not needing to be done in the evenings with light lunches, when I typically am quite tired come evenings and just want to chill and relax for a spell before bed!
Long gone are the days of homeschooling little ones and I had to do things with one or the other almost all day.
I now have a tween and teen that can be very independent and self directing. Even if I suggest something like watching something educational or giving them worksheets, they pretty much do it on their own nowadays and do not always seek my direct involvement. My daughter especially no longer even wants me to play with her as she says I am too embarrassing, so would rather play by herself, with her adult sister (when she was home) or with her friend that comes over sometimes.
Am I left out in the cold? Some days it may feel like it and I feel like I am wandering around a little lost as to where my place is in all of this. Yet it is also encouraging and it is not that they do not need me anymore, it is just that how they want my involvement has changed.
For instance my daughter no longer asks me to read her bed time stories ( I miss that!) yet she will want my help in the kitchen for baking in a heart beat.
My son has not asked me to play a board game with him in like forever yet will ask me to share a show with him he really loves to watch.
Our conversations have changed as well, where when they were younger, they were filled with questions and always asking them. Now they have become more intellectual or about future dreams.
All these changes have the wheels in my head turning, while I feel like I am walking in a fog lately, there is so much I want to do with them in the next 3 1/2 years before my son turns 18!
Yet we have been just riding the tides this month and going with the flow, I have been observing, much more than my family will ever know and I am highly conscious of all the changes going on as we head into another chapter of our lives.
I am not fretting their learning, they are learning by leaps and bounds which comes out in our conversations. And I have some plans in the beginning stages for making these next few years that will fly by all too fast a rocking time for us all.
Sometimes it is hard to share because they have come to an age they do not like me sharing so much online and I respect their need for privacy in these matters. This is one reason it can be a long time between posts, or that my posts are a tad vague or why there is not nearly that many photos anymore. I use to share tons of photos! Now they wont even let me take any of them, another sign they are growing up.
At any rate, they are Amazing and I cherish this time I have with them!
This has left the month quiet, everyone working out their new grooves and routines without an extra person here to share computers, TVs and game systems with. It always amazes me how much quieter a house gets after a person leaves it, even if they are one of the quiet ones! When a fair amount of people share a very small space together, it is always quite noticeable when they are not around.
We have also been adjusting to hubby's working hours that have been bouncing around, going from an opening shift where he had to be up by 4am to a closing shift where he does not leave until 4 pm and gets home at 1am has been quite a change! That has meant dinner at lunchtime so he could eat prior to work and a quick easy lunch for me and the kids at night when he was gone. I actually loved that due to dishes getting done early in the day and not needing to be done in the evenings with light lunches, when I typically am quite tired come evenings and just want to chill and relax for a spell before bed!
Long gone are the days of homeschooling little ones and I had to do things with one or the other almost all day.
I now have a tween and teen that can be very independent and self directing. Even if I suggest something like watching something educational or giving them worksheets, they pretty much do it on their own nowadays and do not always seek my direct involvement. My daughter especially no longer even wants me to play with her as she says I am too embarrassing, so would rather play by herself, with her adult sister (when she was home) or with her friend that comes over sometimes.
Am I left out in the cold? Some days it may feel like it and I feel like I am wandering around a little lost as to where my place is in all of this. Yet it is also encouraging and it is not that they do not need me anymore, it is just that how they want my involvement has changed.
For instance my daughter no longer asks me to read her bed time stories ( I miss that!) yet she will want my help in the kitchen for baking in a heart beat.
My son has not asked me to play a board game with him in like forever yet will ask me to share a show with him he really loves to watch.
Our conversations have changed as well, where when they were younger, they were filled with questions and always asking them. Now they have become more intellectual or about future dreams.
All these changes have the wheels in my head turning, while I feel like I am walking in a fog lately, there is so much I want to do with them in the next 3 1/2 years before my son turns 18!
Yet we have been just riding the tides this month and going with the flow, I have been observing, much more than my family will ever know and I am highly conscious of all the changes going on as we head into another chapter of our lives.
I am not fretting their learning, they are learning by leaps and bounds which comes out in our conversations. And I have some plans in the beginning stages for making these next few years that will fly by all too fast a rocking time for us all.
Sometimes it is hard to share because they have come to an age they do not like me sharing so much online and I respect their need for privacy in these matters. This is one reason it can be a long time between posts, or that my posts are a tad vague or why there is not nearly that many photos anymore. I use to share tons of photos! Now they wont even let me take any of them, another sign they are growing up.
At any rate, they are Amazing and I cherish this time I have with them!
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