After a three and a half year hiatus, I’m dusting my blog off by joining Emily P. Freeman’s Quarterly Link-up about ‘Things I’ve Learned.’ The encouragement is to reflect and observe one’s life as to gain the most from our experiences. Perhaps these musings will prompt reflections and observations you’ve gained in your own life.
1) Mushrooms are key.
Apparently mushrooms are what make the omelette for me. I’d forgotten mushrooms at the store for several weeks; I also had not been motivated to make my morning omelette for weeks. Then one day, I remembered the mushrooms, the next morning I made an omelette.
Note to self: Keep mushrooms on hand to motivate me to make my high protein breakfast. For a long while I have loved my omelette and coffee with half & half breakfast, knowing I’ve started my day right. I’ve enjoyed the ritual of making it and eating it but it lost its luster. Now I know that I’d just lost my mushrooms.
2) It’s easier to cook for three than for six.
It really cracks me up that this came as a surprise for me! I must admit that I like that the house stays more orderly, that we’re staying on top of the laundry, and that we have leftovers in our fridge frequently now that there are only three of us that live here full time.
3) Six people go through more soap and shampoo; not just food.
In other transitional news, apparently six of us go through a lot more soap and shampoo than four or three of us do. This was more difficult for me to adjust to this past summer than the feeding more people part of the summer. Weird, I know. I have no idea why this bothered me so much.
4) Sometimes transitions and change are okay.
I am a pre-griever. As I spend time thinking about upcoming changes, I get sad. So for the two to three weeks before the older three went off to and back to college this fall, I was really sad. During the actual drop-offs, I hugged, prayed and waved. I don’t typically cry at good-byes and this was no exception. I felt all the feels for a day or two when we got back. And then I was good. I’ve been peaceful. I haven’t ached or longed for the hustle and bustle of a full house or for the individuals.
5) A six of us camping trip did put the ache and longing into missing them.
Missing us. It was so good to be just the six of us. Camping in the cold. We cut wood. Built a fire. Cooked over a camp stove. Hiked. Tossed a frisbee. We reminisced. We talked about current events in our own lives. We connected better than we would have if we’d stayed at home together. This is when I felt the ache and the longing, not during our new day-to-day normal of just three of us. It was so wonderful that I came home and started planning a summer vacation for just the six of us.
6) Be open to learning.
The idea for the camping trip came as a result of the parent session at the college drop-off for child number three. The one where the colleges help parents cut the umbilical cord. I had thought to myself, ‘Do I really need to go to this?’ The answer to that question is yes. Yes, I did. After years of college visits, I was pretty burnt on another academic speech (which are only moderately inspiring or informative at this stage). But it was at this session — where I thought I had nothing to learn — that I gained a vision for my role as a mom to college-aged kids: one of my roles is to help us — the six of us — stay connected as a family in our adult lives. Hence, the inspiration to make a two day camping trip happen for the two days that their fall breaks overlapped. Note to self: You always have things to learn; be open even when I think that ‘I know it all’ already.
