What I have learned from being Absent
This summer my wife and I decided that it would be good for her and our three children to visit her mother in Minnesota for the summer. Her mother and step-father are both employed by the Minnesota public education system and thus, have summers off.
It made sense, why have them stay here in the heat while I worked, when they could be having fun in a great summer climate. I have flexibility to travel to see them a few times and their visit with family would be a nice treat for all.
I didn’t realize how much I would miss them. And, I am sure, they would miss me.
However, the silver lining is that I have learned (or re-learned) a few things while living alone for the past few weeks.
While being absent from my family I have learned that…
- Folding laundry takes an extraordinary large amount of time
- Ironing takes up even more time
- Our dogs don’t like me as much as they like the rest of the family
- By way of dishes, I only produce dirty cups. Maybe because I have a stack of readily available paper plates.
- A quiet house is only a plus for so long
- The house seems to get dirty all on its own
- It really does save money to not have every light in the house on
- The kitchen table makes a great work desk
- The refrigerator of a ‘bachelor’ is depressingly empty
- I have a really big bed…and too many pillows
- Doing “whatever you want” is not as fun as it seems
All that to say that I am looking forward to my family’s return.
