Oh what do you do at lunch time when all the kids are gone . . .

 

I'm baaaack, but not in the scary movie I only could watch through my finger tips way. All my kids have been in full day school for a week now and my brain has returned to enough function that I could sit and write just a bit. I'd spent 10 weeks (or several years) counting down the days until they were all gone together at the same time. I got a few glimses when most of the kids were off to friend's houses this summer. It was sweet and I couldn't wait for the real thing. The first day of school my husband teased me about how I was going to be spending my "vacation."

 

So the first week I got caught up on everything I couldn't do during the summer because I was trying to keep four kids entertained, because entertained children fight a bunch less than bored ones do. And surviving this summer was all about keeping the kids from touching each other unneccesarily. (My plan didn't work out how I'd hoped.) Anyway . . . I had lots of things that I needed/wanted to do. I spent the day with my sister in law so we could shop, eat, and talk without the kids wanting her full attention. One day I went back to bed and slept for a couple of hours. I worked on sewing projects that had been in the "mending hole" for several weeks. I watched all the extra features on a new DVD we bought. My husband took a day off and we spent some time together (we'd rediscovered how much we liked being alone during the day this summer - more on that another time).

 

But there was one time that was harder to be alone than any other. It reminded me of a song I used to sing in Primary "Oh What do you do in the Summer Time?" so I rewrote the lyrics a little bit

 

Oh what do you do at lunchtime

When all the kids are gone?

Do you watch TV or a movie?

Sit at the table by yourself?

Is that what you do?

So do I

 

The only problem is that even though I had spent several years wishing to be able to eat all my own hot food at the time it was originally prepared, that desire was never to eat totally alone. I love that I have time to finally work on all those projects that I've said I'll get to "someday." I love having 8 hrs to relax so when the entire family needs to be shuttled to activies for the next 5, I've got enough I enough energy. I love that the house is mostly clean and very quiet for a large portion of the day. I love that my children get to be with their friends and be taught by teachers who care about them. I love that they come home at the end of the day and are excited about what they've done while they were gone. I love that my youngest (by one min) spent the first 45 min after he got home from his first day of school in my lap cuddling because he'd missed me. Despite my love of all those things for about 20 min every day I sit alone to eat my lunch and miss my lunch buddies.

It is an interesting feeling for one who has been counting down to this freedom since the day the twins were born. It has been a good reminder that my kids are growing bigger everyday and in the not so distant future, they won't be home for dinner either. So I'm going to try to savor every moment I've got. Enjoy running to the school for every forgotten lunch and backpack. And listening to every story that doesn't quite make sense, kissing every owie, cheering at every game. And even when I get to answer those uncomfortable questions because one kid had me cornered in the car on the way to this or that activity. Because someday it will be for more than just lunch that I miss them. So I'm going to give each of my kids an extra kiss and relish just exactly how they are today.