Not that I don't love them, and aren't happy to see them. But it does require certain adjustments. For example, we had a pleasant dinner with lots of lively conversation as we all caught up and reminisced. Then, about 11:00 p.m., my wife and I headed off to bed while the kids headed out.
I guess that's understandable. After all, they've spent the last nine months in an unstructured and unsupervised environment. They have different interests and habits. They basically just want to sleep in, hang out with friends, stay out late, and generally do whatever they’ve been doing at school. That's their new normal.
For the most part, I'm okay with that. They're somewhere between being children and becoming adults. But they're not all they way there yet. So there will be a few 'house rules' - probably more than they want, but fewer than I would prefer.
The girl won't be a problem. Despite being the youngest, she's very reliable and mature. She's leaving next week for a short mission trip in Peru, followed by a brief trip to Machu Picchu and the surrounding area. When she gets back she's already got a full-time job lined up. It's with the same firm she worked at her senior year in high school. They think highly enough of her that they were willing to take her on this summer, even on an abbreviated schedule.
The boy, however, is another story. He is scheduled to spend a summer semester at the University of Stirling in Scotland. It's about a six week program. That leaves him with another six weeks of unscheduled time. He is supposed to be spending part of that time interning in his chosen field, but there has been a curious silence on that topic recently. We'll see...
To complicate matters, our 15-year-old washing machine died yesterday, even as the kids brought in mountains of dirty laundry. We knew it was on its last legs, and have already bought a replacement.
It will be delivered one week from today.
Hopefully they have enough clean shorts and t-shirts to last seven days. If not we can always go old school...
...or adopt a field expedient approach.
Anyway, our summer of excellent adventures has begun.
2 comments:
Rules are good - it is your house. When my kids were off at school, I did not worry overmuch. But when they were home, I did not sleep well until they came in the door. We had to have rules.
Last summer we made the Machu Picchu trek. It was awesome. There are lots of young people from all over the world in Peru seeing the sights. It will be a great trip for your daughter. Both my daughter and I had our cameras stolen from our pockets - just a heads up.
Several years ago, we spent a month in Aberdeen, Scotland. Your son should have a great time too - especially being close to Edinburgh. That is one place I would like to visit more thoroughly.
I get the 'my house - my rules' thing, but the difficulty is in setting the rules. I do agree, however, with 'either be home by x o'clock or call.'
Thanks for the heads-up on Machu Picchu. I do worry about the daughter traveling by herself, but I guess all Dads do.
We took a family trip to Edinburgh a few years ago. Had a great time - can't wait to go back.
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