Kids Gone = Lonely Weekend - Part 2

(Continued from March 19, 2011) ......... As the other two were departing, he told me that he and a few other musicians had planned to get together to work on a few songs. Not a bad idea, I thought, at least he’d still be home. Then he told me that the rehearsal would be at some other person's house!!!!

Well, alrighty again, I rushed home with big plans (of course, it would have been better had I actually shared the plans) and within an hour of arriving home, I was all alone with a couple of cheese-less pieces of pizza remaining! Not at all what I had planned!

Fortunately, I had about 20 hours of work-related tasks to complete during the weekend. So, finding myself all alone with no kids and no spouse, I hauled out the briefcase and got to work at the kitchen table. The whippersnappers arrived home at different times, but it was too late for a game of Scrabble or anything else, so we headed to bed.

On Saturday, with their work schedules, rehearsals, school dance, and studying groups, it became obvious that all four of us would not be in the house at the same time again. Ditto for Sunday!

Wow, I was certainly able to pound away at my work-related tasks all day and most of the night on Saturday and all afternoon on Sunday. We did have some foursome time together on Sunday, but nowhere near the entire weekend that I had envisioned.

So, what does it all mean? Well, many, many years ago, somebody told me that my little tykes would grow up, have activities of their own, and eventually move out of the house! Although we knew it to be true, we figured that we had a whole bunch of years to enjoy our kids and the time together before they began to break away.

Truth be told, we took that advice seriously and we spent as much time with our kids as was possible. Time at home on a daily basis, weekends together, and, of course, vacations together were the norm for us. We put aside many projects during the years to spend quality and quantity time with our kids. For example, a 20-hour work-related project on a weekend? That could have never happened when the kids were little. Now, out of necessity and schedules, it was easy to devote the time to the projects.

Yes, our kids have definitely been breaking away from the household over the past few years, making friends, working, going to college, playing in bands, being involved in school plays, etc. However, it took this particular weekend to have it hit home with me - a full weekend to devote to my kids and ..... NO KIDS WERE AVAILABLE!

(Please come back next Saturday for the final part!)


Paul W. Reeves