Apart
Excuse me while I get all mommy here but four days three nights is the longest I have ever been away from my oldest kid. This Friday she got pulled out of school early and whisked away to the airport with her backpack full of books (two very short ones, one non-fiction about dinosaurs, a couple chapter books and a set of very teeny tiny books in a little box), pens and paper for tic-tac-toe, the stuffed t-rex she sleeps with, snacks and who knows what else…She and her dad were Iowa bound. They spent Saturday at the lake where my sister-in-law and her family live. I received a grainy photo by email of her on a raft, sandwiched between her cousins, being towed by a speed boat. But yesterday the father-daughter duo began the long drive home in the new used car. We bought my sister-in-law’s old car and now it is somewhere in Kansas, on its way home carrying half my family. They called from a motel last night and sounded tired and delirious.
Four days three nights is the longest I have spent uninterrupted with my youngest kid. We were both getting over a cold so after dropping our kin off at the airport we headed to the library for a stack of new books and a video. After reading and viewing A was still out of sorts so we stopped by a friends house to visit, play and see some just hatched chicks. Saturday was spent with my mom, aunt and cousin. A potato filled lunch at the neighborhood pub got us ready for a stop at the dollar store (a dangerous place with a 2.5 year old), the pet store to oogle the animals and buy some baby crickets to feed the spinach frog and finally a trip to the antique/junk shop/indoor flea market where we all found treasures. I came away with some cool kids books. My cousin brought over a stack of vampire books and the first season of Trueblood on DVD so I could indulge my inner teenager while alone.
Yesterday was another lunch date with my mom and a trip to the botanic gardens but a plumbing emergency made me anxious and we hurried home to await the plumber. Today I need to wash the towels that mopped up the mess. I have no real plans today, my last with A. Some housework perhaps, a trip to the park, a walk with the dog…whatever we want really. I can feel D and L getting closer and they will be here soon; road-weary and grumpy, happy to kick their shoes off and fall onto the couch. And the house will be noisier and messier and the girls will compete for attention and I will make a dinner that will fall short of expectations…in other words, all will be back to normal.
This weekend will linger though, become a memory and I will wish I had taken more pictures. While they watched roadside America whiz by we played at home—nothing out of the ordinary at this end. Except time that is. Time for me to adore my baby with no jealous big-sister eyes watching. Time to miss my big girl knowing that someday four days and three nights away won’t be very much time away at all.