The house has been very quiet. On Sunday we packed the girls off to an introductory week at summer camp. As I write this they are probably swimming, kayaking, or roasting something over a fire at a place I wrote about last summer.
Here they are, just before their departure on a big charter bus:
They were thrilled to go.
One child was a bit more eager to depart than the other. One girl’s kisses and hugs were brief and fleeting, and the other one didn’t seem to want to let go, and gave me enough kisses and hugs to see me through until the time we see each other again.
I wrote them both little notes to keep them from missing home too much. I did this once before. I was travelling somewhere and I wrote two letters with “IN CASE OF EMERGENCY” on the envelope. Sarah never forgot this so I was asked for a repeat performance. The notes I wrote this time were written on quarter sheets of plain paper, folded, stapled and labelled with the name and the day of the week. e.g. “Sarah – open Sunday night.”
So, packed with memories of home, all-weather clothing, and footwear, and paddles, and lifejackets, and their lunches and Everything Else They Needed To bring … they boarded and waited for departure.
While the girls were in their seats they blew kisses and made heart shapes with their fingers and X’s and O’s and motioned to us about a couple of thrilling discoveries on the bus that included barf bags and the fact that there was going to be a movie on board. And before we knew it they were gone.
I started missing them the moment the bus left the parking lot. It’s a short stay, only a week, but STILL.
After they left, Mark and I had a nice breakfast at the Heart & Crown on Preston St. The hashbrowns were delicious deeply fried bits of potato and the coffee could have been better. Our meal was quiet and unhurried. We wondered aloud about The Things We Did Before Kids. And you know what, we couldn’t really remember.
Mark is on holiday. The other night we rented a movie (The Road, which has got to win an award for the most misleading trailer EVER) and had a nice dinner. We had Indian food last night. We slept in today and have spent a lot of time working.
We took Piper to the vet’s for a follow-up re: a limpy leg and to Critter Jungle to pick up some dry dog food. And that’s about the extent of it.
Parenthood is so funny. You spend years craving five frickin’ minutes of quiet, and when you finally get it you don’t know what to do with it.
