Waning days of August, 2015

In these last few days of August, there is a lot of sadness around here.  No one really wants the summer to end.  It isn't that they don't want to go to school, they just don't want the summer to end. Luckily, with the exception of two half days on Tuesday and Wednesday, no one around here starts school until September 9th, so they have another 10 days to enjoy the 94 degree days Accuweather is predicting through next Saturday.

There really hasn't been much going on around here, but that is largely because I have been working for the last two weeks, on what will be a three week temporary job with a company I have worked with before.  I am not doing lawyer work...it is strictly customer service, but I actually like it a lot, and I really like the people I work with.   But then again, I know it is only for three weeks.  

What I haven't liked, is being away from my kids all day--i.e. being a working mom.  I am used to being here, and I miss them.   Their days are carefully planned out by me, and I have a schedule of fun things for them to do, but I think they miss me.      Lily tells me all the time how much she misses me, and so does Matthew.   Timmy is only interested what is in front of him....of all my children, he is the most likely to leave and never come back.  He is just happy wherever he is.

But today Anna told me that I have missed important things in her life by not being there for these last two weeks.   Specifically, I was sitting outside of Sprinkles, and I was talking about working, and how I feel like I am glad I am working, but being out of the loop for two weeks has been difficult, but that I guess for 2 weeks, I haven't missed much, when she said "Oh, no, you have definitely missed out on parts of my life these last two weeks because you were working.     You are so busy when you get home getting ready for the next day, that there are things I haven't told you."

Wow.  My first reaction was "poor baby.....you weren't able to tell me a few things."   But then I started thinking about how unbeliebably lucky I am, and how lucky my kids are, that they DO have me there the overwhelmingly vast majority of times, to tell me how their tennis match went, or how they did at golf, or what funny thing Lily did with Grace...

Being a stay-at-home mom isn't always the greatest, at least for me.  I don't love cooking or making fancy dinners, and I don't really enjoy the domestic life.  I don't live on a street where there are lots of other stay-at home moms....most of my neighbors are much older.  I also don't have siblings/mom/dad, family to hang out with.  My best friend, Ellen, lives within 5 minutes of two of her siblings with great spouses, and lots of nieces and nephews.   I would have a lot more fun if I had that, but I do have great friends.

Moreover, before I became a mom, I was a lawyer, which is a job I was good at, and I loved doing it. Whenever I go to a lawyer continuing legal education course to keep my license, I am reminded of how much I loved being a lawyer.  But, ultimately,  I love my children far more, and at the end of my time, I will not remember the cases I won (or didn't win), but I will remember all the school events I was able to attend, and all the time I spent with them, and for me, that means more than winning a case before the Supreme Court.

And, by the way, Anna couldn't remember those things that I missed...so maybe they were just fleeting anyway.

So, as the days of August move into September, enjoy the last few days of true summer.... the ones before school begins.  I will be finishing up my last week of work, and trying to call Anna to tell me what is going on while I am driving home from work!