Ham on Rye, Hold the Pickles
I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but I think that I am officially a member of The Sandwich Generation. You know, when you are taking care of your children and your parents at the same time. That's me in the middle. A few short years ago.
My daughter, who is a senior, spent her junior year in Minnesota (long story, I didn't like it because I was missing her high school stuff). So I was alone in the house, after years of runnning the home where everyone came to hang out. I was faced with something I hadn't thought much about while I was busy being a career mommy. That was, what do I want to be now that I'm grown up? I didn't have time to figure it out before daughter moved home, hubby left his job and was also home all day. Which left me really confused.
My kids don't need constant care anymore, but college is coming up and there are all kinds of big life things happening to them. On the one hand, they want advice and encouragement. On the other hand, they want to be left the hell alone. As a parent, it's frustrating trying to figure out how much to be involved and how much to butt out.
Flip the sandwich over and you've got a mother who just had heart surgery, came home, went into congestive heart failure, went back to the hospital, and will go from there to a rehabilitation facility. So there's a trip to Albuquerque next week, right in the middle of prom, senior pictures and announcements, May Fete, Baccalaureate, awards ceremonies, graduation and getting ready for a houseful of company. Even more than that is the looming possibility that the mothership may not be one hundred percent after all this, which means possibly more frequent trips west in the future.
Then I have AARP breathing down my back, but I'm not quite old enough for a senior discount at IHOP. And I still haven't figured out what I want to do when I grow up. Maybe I'll write a blog. Maybe I'll go down to the Caribbean and sling drinks for Kenny Chesney. Maybe he'll write a song about me.
My daughter, who is a senior, spent her junior year in Minnesota (long story, I didn't like it because I was missing her high school stuff). So I was alone in the house, after years of runnning the home where everyone came to hang out. I was faced with something I hadn't thought much about while I was busy being a career mommy. That was, what do I want to be now that I'm grown up? I didn't have time to figure it out before daughter moved home, hubby left his job and was also home all day. Which left me really confused.
My kids don't need constant care anymore, but college is coming up and there are all kinds of big life things happening to them. On the one hand, they want advice and encouragement. On the other hand, they want to be left the hell alone. As a parent, it's frustrating trying to figure out how much to be involved and how much to butt out.
Flip the sandwich over and you've got a mother who just had heart surgery, came home, went into congestive heart failure, went back to the hospital, and will go from there to a rehabilitation facility. So there's a trip to Albuquerque next week, right in the middle of prom, senior pictures and announcements, May Fete, Baccalaureate, awards ceremonies, graduation and getting ready for a houseful of company. Even more than that is the looming possibility that the mothership may not be one hundred percent after all this, which means possibly more frequent trips west in the future.
Then I have AARP breathing down my back, but I'm not quite old enough for a senior discount at IHOP. And I still haven't figured out what I want to do when I grow up. Maybe I'll write a blog. Maybe I'll go down to the Caribbean and sling drinks for Kenny Chesney. Maybe he'll write a song about me.
posted by Mom Thumb at 1:21 PM
9 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
sorry I deleted...I saw too many typos...guess my coffee isn't strong enough! :0)
I did say though, that I am so there with you! Totally understand. Life can be weird and never easy adjusting.
Think there'll be any room beside you to sling drinks? Sounds tempting!
Funny how the memory of your child as an infant really does seem like only a few short years ago. Hopefully the future years won't seem so short.
And make sure you don't ask Bill his philosophy on aging - you don't want to know.
dorothy - We be limin' mon.
h-man - Is that life divided by four? Cuz if it is, I've got ten years before I have to freak out again.
Yep, that's the one. A truly inspiring philosophy.
Depressed? Wait until the first time your doctor asks if you have a will, and then tells you not to buy any green bananas!
bill - I fail to see the connection between having a will and buying green bananas. You may want to consider a different physician. This one sounds a little fruity.
It means with 5 stents and prostate cancer, I may not be around long enough for green bananas to ripen!
bill - Ah, I must be having a senior sandwich moment, because that went WHOOSH, right over my head!
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