While I was away...
I was a business travelin' Mojo Mom for the last week. I'll tell you more about why I was in California in a separate post, but first I wanted to talk about the experience of being away.
When my daughter was younger and I almost never had any time away from home, I relished a short trip once in a while. But now I travel more, and while it's true that I go away for important and enjoyable events, the glow has worn off business travel at this point. I had to get up at 4:30 am to head to the airport and Michael woke up, too. I said "I really don't feel like going right now," and he said "Now you know how I feel." He has traveled extensively over the years--we celebrated last year when his schedule calmed down and he lost his Platinum Premiere status on United. But to be honest, I hardly ever looked at the travel from his point of view. I was too busy keeping the balls in the air at home.
He did a fantastic job this week as primary parent while I was away. I really missed my family. It felt like I was stepping into an alternate universe to be so far away for that long. And when I came back, I found out that something had changed while I was away: my daughter now wants to put herself to bed without reading stories together. I knew this day would come but I didn't know it would happen so abruptly. So after reading out loud so many books, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Little House on the Prairie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Books of Ember, and all the rest, here we are, stopped right in the middle of Charlotte's Web, and my independent girl says "I'm too old for that."
She has been reading on her own for a long time now but I enjoyed our special times reading together in the evening. This is a major Mom nostalgia milestone for me as she grows up. I won't push the issue but I am keeping the door open. I wonder if she'll change her mind....stay tuned.
When my daughter was younger and I almost never had any time away from home, I relished a short trip once in a while. But now I travel more, and while it's true that I go away for important and enjoyable events, the glow has worn off business travel at this point. I had to get up at 4:30 am to head to the airport and Michael woke up, too. I said "I really don't feel like going right now," and he said "Now you know how I feel." He has traveled extensively over the years--we celebrated last year when his schedule calmed down and he lost his Platinum Premiere status on United. But to be honest, I hardly ever looked at the travel from his point of view. I was too busy keeping the balls in the air at home.
He did a fantastic job this week as primary parent while I was away. I really missed my family. It felt like I was stepping into an alternate universe to be so far away for that long. And when I came back, I found out that something had changed while I was away: my daughter now wants to put herself to bed without reading stories together. I knew this day would come but I didn't know it would happen so abruptly. So after reading out loud so many books, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Little House on the Prairie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Books of Ember, and all the rest, here we are, stopped right in the middle of Charlotte's Web, and my independent girl says "I'm too old for that."
She has been reading on her own for a long time now but I enjoyed our special times reading together in the evening. This is a major Mom nostalgia milestone for me as she grows up. I won't push the issue but I am keeping the door open. I wonder if she'll change her mind....stay tuned.
Labels: growing up, reading
posted by MojoMom at 1:13 PM
3 Comments:
Ohhhh, I bet she will wiggle in the room you give her on this point. And as for leaving family, they always seem to do fine wherever I am. What a lesson.
Yes, I actually take great pride in the fact that they do so well when I am gone. Eventually, a Mom's job is to NOT be indispensable.
Irreplaceable, of course, but it's good that they can get on without my constant presence.
We'll see what happens with the reading tradition. I will bit my tongue and refrain from pushing it, even if it means that I finish Charlotte's Web by myself. It reads really differently as an adult!
Although my daughter transitioned from me reading stories to reading on her own at night long ago, she still wants to do the bedtime thing with me. It's our opportunity to talk. I call her the "Master Procrastinator" because she has mastered the art of creating conversation about anything and everything to put off her bedtime as long as possible.
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