Without Children

Problem:  school is out for Sassy, but yours truly still has to work.  Solution:  Grandparents!  We met my parents last week (R's parents will get a turn in August) and they had the girls until Monday.  FOUR days of freedom!!!

Without children:

• we went out to eat, not once but TWICE--and neither time was under the Golden Arches.
• we went to a local amusement park and rode all the "big kid" rides.
• we met one of our favorite couples at a local festival.
• we slept in and then made breakfast--with a Pandora "island" station playing--LOUDLY.
• there were no toys to pick up every night.
• I never had to sweep under the bar stools.
• I walked into mass on Sunday morning totally empty-handed.  No coloring books, no drinks, no snacks, no markers, no extra underwear, no squirming two year old.   
• I got to ENJOY mass.  I had time AND peace to listen and pray.
• we did a spur-of-the-moment drive to a nearby lake--no scheduling around nap time, or looking for matching shoes, or packing drinks.
• we bought and ate a whole package of Swiss Cake Rolls.  By ourselves. 
• we watched whatever we wanted on TV and only used the "rewind" feature because we wanted to, not because we missed something due to someone screaming.
• I had ONE head of hair to fix.
• we remembered life. . . . BEFORE children.

Without children:

• I slept so long that my back hurt every morning.
• it was WAY too quiet.
• my lap was way too empty.
• there was no one to tuck in or check on 20 times before I went to bed.  (I love that when they're sleeping, I still see them as the babies we brought home from the hospital.)
• I was almost bored during mass.
• there was no one exclaiming, "Dis is da best fam-wee in da world!"
• I didn't ride any of the little kid rides that I secretly love because my "excuses" weren't around.
• we bought our usual gallon of milk at the store only to find that we still had a gallon and a half in the fridge.
• I snacked constantly because I didn't have to share with little people (the scale was NOT my friend with them gone!)
• I found myself taking pictures of things the girls would love (like baby geese at the lake) since they weren't there
• the house stayed way too clean (yes, I really just said that)
• we were reminded that someday this will be life. . . AFTER children are gone.  

I'm SO grateful that our parents are such wonderful grandparents.  I love that the girls are making incredible memories with the people who raised us.  I love having some time to be "us."  And I have to admit--I love getting them back.  A quiet house is overrated.  Though I must say, Swiss Cake Rolls are NOT.