Well, it’s that time of year again. While I do love the summer, the warm weather, the long days and the bare feet, it’s a bittersweet feeling once our week-long family vacation is over because there are now 2 empty beds upstairs.
Ethan and Eleanor have gone to their mother’s for the summer. They will be here on weekends with us, but Monday to Friday we are without them.
The house seems quiet, and not in that good I’m-the-only-one-home-for-a-few-hours kinda way; it’s more of an empty kind of feeling. How is that possible when there are still 4 people in the house?
Well, there’s less laughter, there’s less talking, less fighting, less yelling, less cooking and less hugging good night. Some of those may not sound like positives, but I assure you that when they aren’t there, you realize you would give anything to have them back.
I’m not the only one that notices the change, of course Tom does, but Rebecca and Siobhan are down 2 playmates too.
Just this morning, Siobhan knocked on both Ethan and Eleanor’s bedroom doors and when Tom opened them she ran in all excited to see them. She was disappointed when they weren’t there. How can I explain to her that the summer is different? That she only gets to see them on weekends for the next 7 weeks?
Rebecca is bummed too. She asks every day “when will Ethan and Eleanor be home?”
I hope they are enjoying themselves at their mom’s and I know that this time is important for them to have with her. I would never wish away the summer because the winter is too long, but I do look forward to the day when everything is back to normal.
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