A New Plan
Monday, November 2, 2009 at 9:47PM As I headed up the sidewalk to pick Christian up from his piano lesson I thought to myself,"This is the kind of day when I really wish my parents lived here..." The sun was shining, I knew I needed to go grocery shopping, and I thought it would be so nice if I could call them up to see if they could watch the kids outside while I ran to the store. It was a blip of a thought, though; the reality is that I can't just call them up on a whim and do anything at all...they are a thousand miles away.
I decided to take the kids to the playground this afternoon instead of to the store, after Christian's piano lesson. It was a beautiful day, and they were being a bit ornery...I figured they might as well be that way at the park rather than in the house driving me crazy. The girls and I were waiting outside while Christian got his shoes on when my phone rang. It was my mom.
We do that a lot.
My brother was at her house for a visit (he lives not too far from them) and they all wanted to get on Skype. Since I hadn't left, I told the kids to head back inside and that we would go to the playground after we talked to Uncle Matt for a minute.
We had a good time catching up with him, and talking to my mom as well. It's so fun that we can see them on the computer in between our in-person visits! After talking for a few minutes they had to go eat and get ready for something this evening and I needed to take the kids out before it got too late. We said our goodbyes, we got our shoes back on, and headed up the sidewalk.
As we walked I felt an even greater pang of longing to be near them than I had earlier that afternoon. It made me so sad to think that Matthew was eating dinner over there, everyone sitting around the table together, and we weren't there; we couldn't be there, just any old time. It didn't seem fair.
I know that we are where we are for a reason. We are very blessed that Mike has a job, that we have a home, that we live in a neighborhood with a great park a block away, and that we are in a city where the weather is so mild in the beginning of November that we can head to the park in shorts (well, not me...I hate wearing shorts even when it's 90o outside).
It is still hard to be far away from my parents. I want them around for these kinds of things...
We arrived at the playground and the kids immediately got to the business of playing.
Christian almost always finds some boys to run around with, chasing a ball, making up some action-packed scene.
Eliana and Michaela hung out on the small jungle gym.
Eliana climbed these bars again and again; when she was pretty much at the top of them she smiled and said she was up high. Then she grinned and said,"Monkey!" I thought that was pretty funny; I said,"Up high like a monkey?!" I was thinking she was pretty smart!
Then I noticed her looking past me...at the gorilla on the twirly thing-a-ma-bobs on the playset! Oh, that monkey!
Christian was playing keep-away with another little boy and an older fellow. I think most of the time he was having fun and some of the time he wanted the bigger boy to stop chasing him around. He can dish it out, but when it comes to taking it...well, not so much!
It was a beautiful day.
They love to play.
I just want to say
Mom and Dad should move this way!
I am starting a petition to this end. If you think that my parents should move to Dallas and live with us (yes, even in our house!) please leave a comment saying so. Maybe if thousands of people sign then they will feel compelled to leave the life they've known for the better part of their time on this earth, the friends they've made over the last 35 years, and cram themselves into our house in order to fold laundry, help with meals, and watch the kids when I want to go get a haircut. Oh, also in order to laugh so hard we wet our pants, play Scrabble until 2 a.m. every night, and eat a lot of chocolate. We would also exercise together.
Don't you think it sounds like an excellent plan? This may be the best one I've come up with...and there have been some doozies! You know how I love to make a plan...
some thoughts
Reader Comments (4)
AW hunny, I know how hard it is without the parents, I hope they will come out to live with you if they can. I about lost my mind when my husband deployed for 14 months and my parent lived 3000 miles from me. Make everyday an adventure, we had "unbirthdays" when cake was on sale, and slumber parties for no apparent reason...got us through the hard times when they wouldnt just disappear...hugs!!!
I vote for the Webb's to move out to TX to be closer to the Walker's. :) Good luck roomie!
Oh this is what I face with moving in the near future. We have lived so far from our parents the last 6 years and now I long to live closer. But I just don't know if that's going to happen. Things keep looking more like we will be far away still and I don't like to think about that. But I also want to think about Andrew and know that he is in a job that he loves which in turn will be a better and healthier fit for our family. But it's hard. I hope someday you can live close to your family. Who knows, maybe they will someday decide it's time for them to move closer to you. I vote for that.
Thanks, you guys!! Kristina, I will keep you all in my prayers as you move toward this next transition!